Chapter II – Provisions governing the application
A revised version of the European Patent Convention entered into force on 13 December 2007. The provisions of the revised Convention apply unless the transitional provisions provide for the applicability of the EPC 1973. |
(1) On sheets containing drawings, the usable surface area shall not exceed 26.2 cm x 17 cm. These sheets shall not contain frames round the usable or used surface. The minimum margins shall be as follows:
top 2.5 cm
left side 2.5 cm
right side 1.5 cm
bottom 1 cm
(2) Drawings shall be executed as follows:
(a) 52 Drawings shall be executed in durable, black, sufficiently dense and dark, uniformly thick and well-defined, lines and strokes without colourings.
(b) Cross-sections shall be indicated by hatching which should not impede the clear reading of the reference signs and leading lines.
(c) 53 The scale of the drawings and the distinctness of their graphical execution shall be such that reproduction, obtained electronically or photographically, with a linear reduction in size to two-thirds would enable all details to be distinguished without difficulty. If, as an exception, the scale is given on a drawing, it shall be represented graphically.
(d) All numbers, letters, and reference signs, appearing on the drawings, shall be simple and clear. Brackets, circles or inverted commas shall not be used in association with numbers and letters.
(e) All lines in the drawings shall, ordinarily, be drawn with the aid of drafting instruments.
(f) Elements of the same figure shall be in proportion to each other, unless a difference in proportion is indispensable for the clarity of the figure.
(g) The height of the numbers and letters shall not be less than 0.32 cm. For the lettering of drawings, the Latin and, where customary, the Greek alphabets shall be used.
(h) 54 The same sheet of drawings may contain several figures. Where figures drawn on two or more sheets are intended to form one whole figure, the figures on the several sheets shall be so arranged that the whole figure can be assembled without concealing any part of the partial figures. The different figures shall be arranged without wasting space, preferably in an upright position, clearly separated from one another. Where the figures are not arranged in an upright position, they shall be presented sideways with the top of the figures at the left side of the sheet. The different figures shall be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals, independently of the numbering of the sheets.
(i) Reference signs not mentioned in the description and claims shall not appear in the drawings, and vice versa. The same features, when denoted by reference signs, shall, throughout the application, be denoted by the same signs.
(j) The drawings shall not contain text matter, except, when absolutely indispensable, a single word or words such as "water", "steam", "open", "closed", "section on AB", and, in the case of electric circuits and block schematic or flow sheet diagrams, a few short catchwords indispensable for understanding. Any such words shall be placed in such a way that, if required, they can be replaced by their translations without interfering with any lines of the drawings.
(3) Flow sheets and diagrams are considered drawings.
52Amended by decision of the Administrative Council of 21.12.1978 which entered into force on 01.05.1979 (OJ EPO 1979, 5, 6).
53Amended by decision of the Administrative Council of 10.12.1998 which entered into force on 01.01.1999 (OJ EPO 1999, 1 ff).
54Amended by decision of the Administrative Council of 11.12.1980 which entered into force on 31.01.1981 (OJ EPO 1981, 3).