A divisional application must be filed directly or by post with one of the filing offices of the EPO. It may also be filed using the epoline^® Online Filing software (Art. 3 of the Decision of the President dated 29 October 2002, OJ 11/2002, 543; Notice dated 29 October 2002, point 3, OJ 11/2002, 545). The filing of a European divisional application with a national authority has no effect in law; the authority may however, as a service, forward the European divisional application to the EPO. If a competent national authority chooses to forward the application, it is not deemed received until the documents are filed at the EPO.