3. Use of email 

At present, email is an admissible filing means only for the submission of subsequently filed documents as referred to in Rule 50 during consultations and during oral proceedings held by videoconference (for details, in particular on signature and format of attachments, see the decision of the President of the EPO dated 13 May 2020, OJ EPO 2020, A71, and E‑III, 8.5.2).

Other than in the above-mentioned cases, email has no legal effect in proceedings under the EPC and thus cannot be used to validly perform any procedural act and, in particular, to comply with time limits (see OJ EPO 2000, 458, and A‑VIII, 2.5). If, for instance, shortly before oral proceedings, the applicant would like to submit new requests and/or amended documents, they should do so by electronic filing or fax. Documents submitted via electronic filing are normally visible in the electronic file on the same day.

Examples of situations where exchanges by email may be useful are:

(i)to arrange a date for a consultation 

(ii)when, during a consultation, possible amendments to claims are being discussed and the applicant wants to communicate them immediately without submitting them formally 

(iii)shortly before oral proceedings to send an electronic copy of amended claims in addition to the official submission made, for example, by fax; this ensures that the examining division gets the documents well in time to prepare for the oral proceedings.

Emails cannot replace an official communication under Art. 94(3).