2.4 Electronic notification 

Under Rule 127(2) as in force until 31 October 2023, where Where a user has agreed to receive communications electronically, the electronic document is deemed to be delivered to the addressee on the tenth day after its transmission unless it has failed to reach its destination or has reached it at a later date.

With effect from 1 November 2023, Rule 127(2) is amended to read as follows: "Where notification is effected by means of electronic communication, the electronic document shall be deemed to be delivered to the addressee on the date it bears, unless it has failed to reach its destination. In the event of any dispute concerning the delivery of the electronic document, it shall be incumbent on the EPO to establish that the document has reached its destination and to establish the date on which it reached its destination. If the EPO establishes that the electronic document has reached its destination more than seven days after the date it bears, a period for which the deemed receipt of that document is the relevant event under Rule 131, paragraph 2, shall expire later by the number of days by which the seven days were exceeded." (see the decision of the Administrative Council of 13 October 2022, OJ EPO 2022, A101, and the notice from the EPO dated 25 November 2022, OJ EPO 2022, A114).

Currently, notification may occur in electronic form to an activated Mailbox. Electronic notification comprises the decisions, summonses, notices and communications contained in a list published on the EPO website. For the Mailbox service, the date of transmission is the date indicated on the document, provided that the addressee has access to it in the Mailbox by that date. For further details, see the decision of the President of the EPO dated 11 March 2015 concerning the pilot project to introduce new means of electronic communication in EPO proceedings (OJ EPO 2015, A28) and the notice from the EPO dated 30 March 2015 (OJ EPO 2015, A36).

The Mailbox may also be accessed through MyEPO Portfolio. For further details, see the decision of the President of the EPO dated 11 May 2022 concerning the web-based online service MyEPO Portfolio (OJ EPO 2022, A51) and the notice from the EPO dated 11 May 2022, (OJ EPO 2022, A52).

In the event that further means are introduced for electronic notification, the conditions and details will follow from the decisions governing the use of such means.