6.1. Requirements of a European patent application (Article 78 EPC)

Under Art. 78(1) EPC a European patent application shall contain:

- a request for the grant of a European patent;

- a description of the invention;

- one or more claims;

- any drawings referred to in the description or the claims;

- an abstract

In addition it shall satisfy the requirements laid down in the Implementing Regulations.

Under Art. 78(2) EPC a European patent application is subject to the payment of the filing fee and the search fee. If the filing fee or the search fee is not paid in due time, the application shall be deemed to be withdrawn.

In J 13/04, the patent application had been validly filed with the French Patent Office INPI. The board observed that, under Art. 78(2) EPC 1973, the time limit for payment of the filing and search fees in the case at hand could not be determined on the basis of either the date on which the application was forwarded to the EPO or the date on which the receipt had been issued under R. 24(2) EPC 1973 but rather only on the basis of the date on which the application had been received by the competent national authority, provided that the date of that filing was also the date of filing within the meaning of Art. 80 EPC 1973.