Rule 9 8
Allocation of duties to the departments of the first instance

(1) The President of the European Patent Office shall determine the number of Search Divisions, Examining Divisions and Opposition Divisions. He shall allocate duties to these departments by reference to the international classification and shall decide where necessary on the classification of a European patent application or a European patent in accordance with that classification.

(2) 9 In addition to the responsibilities vested in them under the Convention, the President of the European Patent Office may allocate further duties to the Receiving Section, Search Divisions, Examining Divisions, Opposition Divisions and the Legal Division.

(3) 10 The President of the European Patent Office may entrust to employees who are not technically or legally qualified examiners the execution of individual duties falling to the Examining Divisions or Opposition Divisions and involving no technical or legal difficulties.

(4) The President of the European Patent Office may grant exclusive responsibilities to one of the registries of the Opposition Divisions for fixing the amount of costs as provided for in Article 104, paragraph 2.

8See opinion of the Enlarged Board of Appeal G 1/02 (Annex I).

9See decision of the President of the EPO dated 10.03.1989 concerning the responsibilities of the Legal Division (OJ EPO 1989, 177 ff).

10See notice of 28.04.1999 concerning the entrustment to non-examining staff of certain duties normally the responsibility of the Examining or Opposition Divisions (OJ EPO 1999, 503 ff) and decision of the Enlarged Board of Appeal G 2/90 (Annex I).