If the applicant pays the fees for grant and printing and files the translation of the claims within the specified period, he is deemed to have approved the text intended for grant. Once all the requirements set out in VI, 15.1, are met, it is decided that a European patent is granted, provided that renewal fees and any additional fees already due have been paid.

If a renewal fee becomes due after notification of the Rule 51(4) communication but before the expected date of publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent, the mention is not published until the renewal fee has been paid. The applicant is informed accordingly. If the renewal fee or any additional fee is not paid in time, the application is deemed to be withdrawn.

In the rare case that examination was accelerated to such an extent that the communication under Rule 51(4) is issued before the designation fees become due, the mention of grant of the patent will not be published until the designation fees have been paid and the designation of States for which no designation fees have been paid has been withdrawn. The applicant is informed accordingly.

The decision to grant does not take effect until the date on which the grant is mentioned in the European Patent Bulletin. This does not normally occur until at least five months after despatch of the Rule 51(4) communication.

However, the procedure up to actual grant of the European patent can be shortened considerably if the applicant requests that the patent be granted immediately in accordance with Art. 97(6) (see the Notice of the President of the EPO, OJ 10/2001, 459, and E-VIII, 3). Such a request will result in the five-month period ceasing to apply, but only if the applicant has: