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1.3
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Content of the publication
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The publication must contain the description, the claims and any drawings as filed, and specify, where possible, the person(s) designated as the inventor(s). It also indicates the designated Contracting States. When a European application is published, the States for which protection is actually sought may not yet be known, because the time limit under Art. 79(2) for paying the designation fees is still running. The publication therefore always shows as designated all States party to the EPC on the date the application was filed. Those definitively designated - through actual payment of designation fees - are announced later in the Register of European Patents and the European Patent Bulletin (see Information from the EPO, OJ 10/1997, 479).
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Art. 93(2)
Rule 49(2)
Rule 18
Rule 28(4)
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The publication also contains any new or amended claims filed by the applicant under Rule 86(2), together with the European search report and the abstract determined by the Search Division if the latter are available before termination of the technical preparations for publication. Otherwise the abstract filed by the applicant is published. The search opinion is not published with the European search report. It is however open to file inspection (see XII, 2.1). If a request for correction under Rule 88 of errors in the documents filed with the EPO is allowed, it must be incorporated in the publication. If upon termination of the technical preparations for publication a decision is still pending on a request for correction of items which third parties might expect to be able to take at face value, so that their rights would be jeopardised by correction (e.g. priority claims), this must be mentioned on the front page of the publication (see the case law in V, 3), as must a request for correction of errors in the description, claims or drawings (see V, 3). If the EPO has received a communication from the applicant under Rule 28(4), ("expert solution"), this too must be mentioned (see Announcement of the President of the EPO, OJ 9/1981, 358). Further data may be included at the discretion of the President of the EPO. The publication may not contain any designation of States finally deemed withdrawn or withdrawn by the applicant before the termination of the technical preparations for publication.
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Rule 49(3)
Rule 47(1)
Rule 88
Rule 49(1)
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The originals of documents filed are used for publication purposes where these documents meet the physical requirements referred to in IX, 2, otherwise the amended or replacement documents meeting these requirements are used. Prohibited material is omitted from the documents before publication, the place and number of words or drawings omitted being indicated (see III, 8.1 and III, 8.2). Documents incorporated in an electronic file are deemed to be originals (Rule 95a(3)).
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Sequence listings filed on the date of filing are published as part of the description, whereas sequence listings filed thereafter are published as an annex to the application documents or to the European patent specification (Art. 6 of the Decision of the President of the EPO, Supplement No. 2 to OJ 11/1998).
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CHAPTER VI PUBLICATION OF APPLICATION; REQUEST FOR EXAMINATION AND TRANSMISSION OF THE DOSSIER TO EXAMINING...
1.2 No publication; preventing publication
1.4 Publication in electronic form only
