PART IX – IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS TO PART X OF THE CONVENTION
Rule 104
The European Patent Office as a receiving Office
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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) 149 When the European Patent Office acts as a receiving Office under the Cooperation Treaty, the international application shall be filed in English, French or German. It shall be filed in three copies; the same applies to any of the documents referred to in the check list provided for in Rule 3.3(a)(ii) of the Regulations under the Cooperation Treaty except the receipt for the fees paid or the cheque for the payment of fees. The President of the European Patent Office may, however, decide that the international application and any related item shall be filed in fewer than three copies.
(2) If the provisions of paragraph 1, second sentence, are not complied with, the missing copies shall be prepared by the European Patent Office at the expense of the applicant.
(3) If an international application is filed with an authority of a Contracting State for transmittal to the European Patent Office as the receiving Office, the Contracting State must ensure that the application reaches the European Patent Office not later than two weeks before the end of the thirteenth month after filing or, if priority is claimed, after the date of priority.
149Amended by decision of the Administrative Council of 10.12.1998 which entered into force on 01.01.1999 (OJ EPO 1999, 1 ff).