Nucleotide and amino acid sequences (Form 1200, Section 9)
Overview
5.6.3.Nucleotide and amino acid sequences (Form 1200, Section 9)
5.6.006Where the Euro-PCT application discloses nucleotide or amino acid sequences, a sequence listing in electronic form drawn up in compliance with the applicable WIPO standard must be available to the EPO as a designated/elected Office on expiry of the 31-month time limit. For international applications filed on or after 1 July 2022, WIPO Standard ST.26 applies; for international applications filed up until 30 June 2022, WIPO Standard ST.25 continues to apply, even if the European phase is entered on or after 1 July 2022. Detailed information about sequence listing Standard ST.25 is provided in the notice from the EPO dated 18 October 2013. Details of sequence listing Standard ST.26 are provided in the decision of the President of the EPO dated 9 December 2021 on the filing of sequence listings and the explanatory notice from the EPO (see OJ 2021, A96 and OJ 2021, A97). Sequence listings in Standard ST.25 or Standard ST.26 must be filed in electronic format (see point 5.6.008).
5.6.007As a rule, the required sequence listing will be available to the EPO if it was contained in the international application under Rule 5.2 PCT or filed under Rule 13ter PCT with the EPO acting as ISA/SISA or IPEA (see points 2.24.001 ff). Further, it will also be accessible to the EPO if it is made available by WIPO on PATENTSCOPE and can be downloaded in a usable form.
5.6.008The applicant should in due time verify whether the sequence listing is available to the EPO in the required format and, if it is not, file it before expiry of the 31-month time limit in the applicable electronic format, preferably via one of the EPO's online filing tools (Online Filing or Online Filing 2.0) or, if not, on a data carrier. For international applications filed before 1 July 2022, the applicable electronic format is TXT (text format), even if the European phase is entered on or after 1 July 2022. For international applications filed on or after 1 July 2022, the applicable electronic format is XML (eXtensible Markup Language).
5.6.009If a sequence listing is filed upon entry into the European phase, the applicant must enclose a statement to the effect that the information contained in the sequence listing does not go beyond the content of the original application documents. This statement can be made by crossing the appropriate box in Section 9.2 of Form 1200.
5.6.010For international applications filed before 1 July 2022, a translation of any free text in a sequence listing which forms part of the description or which was filed subsequently need only be provided if it is not yet available to the EPO in English (see point 5.5.011). If text matter in a sequence listing must be translated, the complete sequence listing complying with WIPO Standard ST.25, including the translated text matter, must be submitted. For international applications filed on or after 1 July 2022, a translation of the sequence listing needs to be filed only if the "language-dependent" free-text qualifiers are not available in English or the EPO official language in which the international application was published (German or French). If a translation is required, the complete sequence listing in XML format complying with WIPO Standard ST.26, with the ʺlanguage-dependentʺ free-text qualifiers in English or in the EPO official language into which the other application documents have been translated, must be filed (see OJ EPO 2021, A97, paragraphs 29-32).