5.4 Sequence listings of a divisional application 

As an independent European patent application, a divisional application must also satisfy the requirements of Rule 30 in conjunction with the decision of the President of the EPO dated 9 December 2021 concerning the filing of sequence listings, OJ EPO 2021, A96 (see G 1/05, reasons 3.1). Without prejudice to the requirements of Art. 76(1), second sentence, if a sequence listing is to form part of the description of the divisional application, it must be submitted together with the other documents making up the divisional application unless reference is made to a previously filed application containing a sequence listing as part of the application (Rule 40(1)(c)). Where the sequence listing of the parent application is in a format complying with WIPO Standard ST.25, it must be converted into one complying with WIPO Standard ST.26. To avoid the potential risk of adding and/or losing subject-matter due to conversion, applicants may additionally file the parent application's ST.25 sequence listing in PDF format as part of the divisional application. In such cases, the pages of the ST.25 sequence listing are excluded from the calculation of the additional fee for pages in excess of 35 ("page fee"). The same practice applies to divisional applications filed by reference where the certified copy (Rule 40(3)) contains a sequence listing in ST.25 format (see also A‑IV, 5.3 and A‑III, 13.2). In order to comply with Rule 30(1), the sequence listing in WIPO Standard ST.26 format must in such cases be filed subsequently (see OJ EPO 2023, A98). The late furnishing fee under Rule 30(3) does not fall due if the ST.26 sequence listing is filed before the EPO issues the communication under Rule 30(3) (see A‑IV, 5).

However, an An applicant who has filed a WIPO Standard ST.26-compliant sequence listing under Rule 30 with regard to the earlier application (parent application) is exempted from having to submit said sequence listing if it is intended to be used for search purposes only (i.e. not as part of the description) in respect of the divisional application (the relevant check box for this is preselected in section 38.3 on Form 1001). This enables the EPO to add a copy of the standard-compliant sequence listing filed for the earlier (parent) application to the dossier of the divisional application in XML format and for search purposes only (see OJ EPO 2021, A97, point 18). However, since the content of the disclosure of the invention is the responsibility of the applicant, any sequence listing that is to form part of the description must be filed by them. The sequence listing of the earlier application is, thus, not automatically added to the dossier of the divisional application if

– the applicant files a WIPO Standard ST.26-compliant sequence listing as part of the divisional application's description 

– the sequence listing available in the earlier application does not comply with WIPO Standard ST.26.