Minutes of oral proceedings must be drawn up.

The person conducting the proceedings must ensure that during the whole proceedings an employee is available to keep minutes. If necessary, during oral proceedings different employees may carry out the task of minute-writing in sequence. In this case it must be made clear in the minutes which section was drawn up by which employee. The employees are normally members of the competent department, e.g. the Examining or Opposition Division. The minutes are either taken down by hand by the member charged with the minute-taking or are dictated on to a dictating machine. If the minutes or parts of the minutes are dictated or read out, any objections to them must be raised immediately and recorded in the minutes. Following the proceedings, the dictation or handwritten minutes are typed out.

The minutes must be authenticated either by the signatures of the employee who drew them up and of the employee who conducted the oral proceedings or taking of evidence, or by any other appropriate means. The parties must be provided with a copy of the minutes. Copies must be notified to them as soon as possible after the oral proceedings.

Provided the parties have been informed, oral proceedings may be recorded on sound recording apparatus. However, no person other than an EPO employee is allowed to introduce any such apparatus into the hearing room (see Notice of the Vice-Presidents of the Directorates-General 2 and 3 dated 25 February 1986 concerning sound recording devices in oral proceedings before the EPO, OJ 2/1986, 63). The recording should be kept until the end of any possible proceedings. Copies of the recording will not be provided to the parties.

The minutes must first include the date of the proceedings, the names of the members of the department, e.g. the Opposition Division, present and the name or names of the minute-writer or writers. Minutes must also include the details referred to in III, 8.3.