The applicant may withdraw his application at any time up to the grant of the European patent (see also C-VI, 15.9), provided that no third party has proven to the EPO that he has initiated proceedings concerning entitlement to the application pursuant to Rule 14.

The same also applies to the withdrawal of a designation (see also A-III, 12.9). If all designations are withdrawn, the application is deemed to be withdrawn.

Withdrawal of the application in due time before the eighteen month publication has the advantage that the contents of the application do not become known to the public (see A-VI, 1.2). If, furthermore, no rights have been left outstanding and the application has not served as a basis for claiming a right of priority, a subsequent application for the same invention can be considered as the first application for the purposes of determining priority (see C-V, 1.4a). If the examination fee has been paid, it will be refunded in full or in part (see A-VI, 2.5).