1.

It can happen that, owing to error during production, the specification of a European patent contains misprints and so diverges from the text on which the decision to grant was based. The European Patent Office has therefore been asked whether a patent specification containing errors can possibly affect the content of a European patent. The European Patent Office's view is that it cannot.

2.

The text of a European patent in the language of the proceedings shall be the authentic text in any proceedings before the European Patent Office and in any Contracting State (Art. 70(1) EPC). The text in which the European patent is granted is finally determined in the decision to grant and expressly set out there (Art. 97(2) and Rule 51(11) EPC). This is done by referring to the documents which have been communicated to the applicant and approved by him.

3.

In the Convention this special significance of the decision to grant finds expression in the fact that the grant has to be mentioned in the European Patent Bulletin. According to Article 97(4) EPC the decision to grant a patent does not take effect until the date on which this mention is made. From then on, in accordance with Article 64 EPC the European patent confers the same rights as would be conferred by a national patent, and the period for opposition runs from that day in accordance with Article 99(1) EPC. All these provisions refer to the decision to grant which brings the European patent into being.

4.

In contrast, Article 98 EPC prescribes only that the EPO has to publish a specification of the European patent, without attaching any legal effects thereto. The text of the patent specification thus has no binding character; its function is confined to facilitating public access to the content of the granted patent, particularly the nature and scope of the industrial property right.

5.

Therefore, according to the EPC, only the text on which the decision to grant is based gives the authentic content of a European patent. If the specification diverges from that text it may be corrected by the Office at any time. If necessary, the Office may arrange for correction to be made public as soon as any mistake in a specification is discovered. This is done by means of a note in the European Patent Bulletin and publication of a corrigendum, the sole purpose being to bring the specification into line with the content of the decision to grant.