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3.2
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Other documents
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If any document other than those making up the application (e.g. a letter from the applicant in reply to an invitation under Art. 96(2)) is not filed in one of the prescribed languages or, where the applicant avails himself of Art. 14(2), the required translation is not filed in due time, it is deemed not to have been received. The person who has filed the document must be notified accordingly by the EPO. Accompanying documents relating to performance of a procedural act subject to a time limit (e.g. filing the designation of the inventor, the certified copy of the earlier application for which priority is claimed or that application's translation under Rule 38(5) into one of the official languages of the EPO) are dealt with as follows: if the European application number is given, the document goes into the dossier and the procedural act is recognised as having been performed, but any other contents are ignored. Regarding the signature of accompanying documents, see IX, 3.1.
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Art. 14(5)
Rule 1(1), (2)
Art. 14(2)
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According to Art. 115(1), following the publication of the European patent application, any person may file observations in writing concerning the patentability of the invention in respect of which the application has been filed. These written observations must be filed in English, French or German. Otherwise, they are deemed not to have been received.
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Art. 115(1)
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Even though deemed not to have been received, the document not filed in the prescribed language will become part of the file and therefore accessible to the public according to Art. 128(4). Observations by third parties and notices of oppositions will be communicated to the applicant or the patent proprietor, respectively, even if they have not been filed in the prescribed language (see E-VI, 3 and D-IV, 1.1, cf. Rule 56(1) and D-IV, 1.2.1 (v) regarding the legal consequences where a notice of opposition or notice of intervention of the assumed infringer is filed in a non-prescribed language, and Rule 65(1) in the case of appeals by the opponent or the intervening infringer filed in a non-prescribed language).
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Art. 128(4)
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CHAPTER VIII LANGUAGES
3.1 Documents making up a European patent application
