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Implementing Regulations

Implementing Regulations
to the Convention on the Grant of European Patents

of 5 October 1973

as adopted by decision of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation of 7 December 2006 and

as last amended by decision of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation of 15 December 2020 14 December 2021

Part IImplementing Regulations to part I of the ConventionR. 1 – R. 13

R. 1Written proceedings
R. 2Filing of and formal requirements for documents
R. 3Language in written proceedings
R. 4Language in oral proceedings
R. 5Certification of translations
R. 6Filing of translations and reduction of fees
R. 7Legal authenticity of the translation of the European patent application
R. 8Patent classification
R. 9Administrative structure of the European Patent Office
R. 10Responsibility of the Receiving Section and the Examining Division
R. 11Allocation of duties to the departments of first instance
R. 12(deleted) 
R. 12aOrganisation and management of the Boards of Appeal Unit and President of the Boards of Appeal
R. 12bPresidium of the Boards of Appeal and business distribution scheme for the Boards of Appeal
R. 12cBoards of Appeal Committee and procedure for adoption of the Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal and of the Enlarged Board of Appeal
R. 12dAppointment and re-appointment of the members, including the Chairmen, of the Boards of Appeal and of the Enlarged Board of Appeal
R. 13Business distribution scheme for the Enlarged Board of Appeal

Part IIImplementing Regulations to Part II of the ConventionR. 14 – R. 34

R. 14Stay of proceedings
R. 15Limitation on withdrawals
R. 16Procedure under Article 61, paragraph 1
R. 17Filing of a new European patent application by the entitled person
R. 18Partial transfer of the right to the European patent
R. 19Designation of the inventor
R. 20Publication of the mention of the inventor
R. 21Rectification of the designation of an inventor
R. 22Registration of transfers
R. 23Registration of licences and other rights
R. 24Special entries for licence registrations
R. 25Certificate of exhibition
R. 26General and definitions
R. 27Patentable biotechnological inventions
R. 28Exceptions to patentability
R. 29The human body and its elements
R. 30Requirements of European patent applications relating to nucleotide and amino acid sequences
R. 31Deposit of biological material
R. 32Expert solution
R. 33Availability of biological material
R. 34New deposit of biological material

Part IIIImplementing Regulations to Part III of the ConventionR. 35 – R. 54

R. 35General provisions
R. 36European divisional applications
R. 37Forwarding of European patent applications
R. 38Filing fee and search fee
R. 39Designation fees
R. 40Date of filing
R. 41Request for grant
R. 42Content of the description
R. 43Form and content of claims
R. 44Unity of invention
R. 45Claims incurring fees
R. 46Form of the drawings
R. 47Form and content of the abstract
R. 48Prohibited matter
R. 49General provisions governing the presentation of the application documents
R. 50Documents filed subsequently
R. 51Payment of renewal fees
R. 52Declaration of priority
R. 53Priority documents
R. 54Issuing priority documents

Part IVImplementing Regulations to Part IV of the ConventionR. 55 – R. 74

R. 55Examination on filing
R. 56Missing parts of the description or missing drawings
R. 56aErroneously filed application documents or parts
R. 57Examination as to formal requirements
R. 58Correction of deficiencies in the application documents
R. 59Deficiencies in claiming priority
R. 60Subsequent designation of the inventor
R. 61Content of the European search report
R. 62Extended European search report
R. 62aApplications containing a plurality of independent claims
R. 63Incomplete search
R. 64European search report where the invention lacks unity
R. 65Transmittal of the European search report
R. 66Definitive content of the abstract
R. 67Technical preparations for publication
R. 68Form of the publication of European patent applications and European search reports
R. 69Information about publication
R. 70Request for examination
R. 70aResponse to the extended European search report
R. 70bRequest for a copy of search results
R. 71Examination procedure
R. 71aConclusion of the grant procedure
R. 72Grant of the European patent to different applicants
R. 73Content and form of the specification
R. 74Certificate for a European patent

Part VImplementing Regulations to Part V of the ConventionR. 75 – R. 96

R. 75Surrender or lapse of the patent
R. 76Form and content of the opposition
R. 77Rejection of the opposition as inadmissible
R. 78Procedure where the proprietor of the patent is not entitled
R. 79Preparation of the examination of the opposition
R. 80Amendment of the European patent
R. 81Examination of opposition
R. 82Maintenance of the European patent in amended form
R. 83Request for documents
R. 84Continuation of the opposition proceedings by the European Patent Office of its own motion
R. 85Transfer of the European patent
R. 86Documents in opposition proceedings
R. 87Content and form of the new specification of the European patent
R. 88Costs
R. 89Intervention of the assumed infringer
R. 90Subject of proceedings
R. 91Responsibility for proceedings
R. 92Requirements of the request
R. 93Precedence of opposition proceedings
R. 94Rejection of the request as inadmissible
R. 95Decision on the request
R. 96Content and form of the amended European patent specification

Part VIImplementing Regulations to Part VI of the ConventionR. 97 – R. 110

R. 97Appeal against apportionment and fixing of costs
R. 98Surrender or lapse of the patent
R. 99Content of the notice of appeal and the statement of grounds
R. 100Examination of appeals
R. 101Rejection of the appeal as inadmissible
R. 102Form of decision of the Board of Appeal
R. 103Reimbursement of appeal fees
R. 104Further fundamental procedural defects
R. 105Criminal acts
R. 106Obligation to raise objections
R. 107Contents of the petition for review
R. 108Examination of the petition
R. 109Procedure in dealing with petitions for review
R. 110Reimbursement of the fee for petitions for review

Part VIIImplementing Regulations to Part VII of the ConventionR. 111 – R. 154

R. 111Form of decisions
R. 112Noting of loss of rights
R. 113Signature, name, seal
R. 114Observations by third parties
R. 115Summons to oral proceedings
R. 116Preparation of oral proceedings
R. 117Decision on taking of evidence
R. 118Summons to give evidence before the European Patent Office
R. 119Examination of evidence before the European Patent Office
R. 120Hearing by a competent national court
R. 121Commissioning of experts
R. 122Costs of taking of evidence
R. 123Conservation of evidence
R. 124Minutes of oral proceedings and of taking of evidence
R. 125General provisions
R. 126Notification by postal services
R. 127Notification by means of electronic communication
R. 128Notification by delivery by hand
R. 129Public notification
R. 130Notification to representatives
R. 131Calculation of periods
R. 132Periods specified by the European Patent Office
R. 133Late receipt of documents
R. 134Extension of periods
R. 135Further processing
R. 136Re-establishment of rights
R. 137Amendment of the European patent application
R. 138Different claims, description and drawings for different States
R. 139Correction of errors in documents filed with the European Patent Office
R. 140Correction of errors in decisions
R. 141Information on prior art
R. 142Interruption of proceedings
R. 143Entries in the European Patent Register
R. 144Parts of the file excluded from inspection
R. 145Procedures for the inspection of files
R. 146Communication of information contained in the files
R. 147Constitution, maintenance and preservation of files
R. 148Communications between the European Patent Office and the authorities of the Contracting States
R. 149Inspection of files by or via courts or authorities of the Contracting States
R. 150Procedure for letters rogatory
R. 151Appointment of a common representative
R. 152Authorisations
R. 153Attorney-client evidentiary privilege
R. 154Amendment of the list of professional representatives

Part VIIIImplementing Regulations to Part VIII of the ConventionR. 155 – R. 156

R. 155Filing and transmission of the request for conversion
R. 156Information to the public in the event of conversion

Part IXImplementing Regulations to Part X of the ConventionR. 157 – R. 165

R. 157The European Patent Office as a receiving Office
R. 158The European Patent Office as an International Searching Authority or International Preliminary Examining Authority
R. 159The European Patent Office as a designated or elected Office – Requirements for entry into the European phase
R. 160Consequences of non-fulfilment of certain requirements
R. 161Amendment of the application
R. 162Claims incurring fees
R. 163Examination of certain formal requirements by the European Patent Office
R. 164Unity of invention and further searches
R. 165The Euro-PCT application as conflicting application under Article 54, paragraph 3
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