2.4 2.3 Notification by postal services

All notifications by postal services must be by registered letter (see also OJ EPO 2019, A57). The President of the EPO has, so far, not named any other documents to be notified by registered letter with advice of delivery or equivalent.

Under Rule 126(2) as in force until 31 October 2023, the letter is deemed to be delivered to the addressee on the tenth day following its handover to the postal service provider unless the letter has failed to reach the addressee or has reached him at a later date; in the event of any dispute, it is incumbent on the EPO to establish that the letter has reached its destination or to establish the date on which the letter was delivered to the addressee, as the case may be.

With effect from 1 November 2023, Rule 126(2) is amended to read as follows: "Where notification is effected in accordance with paragraph 1, the A notified document shall be is deemed to be delivered to the addressee on the date it bears unless it has failed to reach the addressee. In the case of notification irregularities, the safeguards set out in E‑II, 2.3 apply.

Example:

An examination report under Art. 94(3) bears a date of 30 January 2024 and sets a time limit of four months. The report is delivered on 3 February 2024, which is four days after the date it bears. Thus, there will be no extension under the safeguard and the document will be deemed notified on 30 January 2024. The four-month period triggered by the notification on 30 January 2024 falls on 30 May 2024, on which no mail is delivered in Munich (public holiday). Consequently, the time limit is extended under Rule 134(1) until 31 May 2024.

By contrast, if the document is delivered on 9 February 2024, i.e. ten days after the date it bears, the period will be extended by three days to expire on 2 June 2024 under Rule 126(2). Since 2 June 2024 is a Sunday, the period is further extended under Rule 134(1) to expire on 3 June 2024.

In the event of any dispute concerning the delivery of the document, it shall be incumbent on the EPO to establish that the document has reached its destination and to establish the date on which the document was delivered to the addressee. If the EPO establishes that the document was delivered to the addressee more than seven days after the date it bears, a period for which the deemed receipt of that document is the relevant event under Rule 131, paragraph 2, shall expire later by the number of days by which the seven days were exceeded." (see the decision of the Administrative Council of 13 October 2022, OJ EPO 2022, A101, and the notice from the EPO dated 25 November 2022, OJ EPO 2022, A114).

Notification is deemed to have been effected, even if acceptance of the letter document has been refused.

The law of the state on the territory of which the notification is made applies to other matters concerning notification, e.g. the question whether delivery to a person other than the addressee constitutes an effective notification to the latter.

2.4Electronic notification

Under Rule 127(2) as in force until 31 October 2023, where a user has agreed to receive communications electronically, the electronic document is deemed to be delivered to the addressee on the tenth day after its transmission unless it has failed to reach its destination or has reached it at a later date.

With effect from 1 November 2023, Rule 127(2) is amended to read as follows: "Where notification is effected by means of electronic communication, the electronic document shall be deemed to be delivered to the addressee on the date it bears, unless it has failed to reach its destination. In the event of any dispute concerning the delivery of the electronic document, it shall be incumbent on the EPO to establish that the document has reached its destination and to establish the date on which it reached its destination. If the EPO establishes that the electronic document has reached its destination more than seven days after the date it bears, a period for which the deemed receipt of that document is the relevant event under Rule 131, paragraph 2, shall expire later by the number of days by which the seven days were exceeded." (see the decision of the Administrative Council of 13 October 2022, OJ EPO 2022, A101, and the notice from the EPO dated 25 November 2022, OJ EPO 2022, A114).

Currently, notification may occur in electronic form to an activated Mailbox. Electronic notification comprises the decisions, summonses, notices and communications contained in a list published on the EPO website. For the Mailbox service, the date of transmission is the date indicated on the document, provided that the addressee has access to it in the Mailbox by that date. For further details, see the decision of the President of the EPO dated 11 March 2015 concerning the pilot project to introduce new means of electronic communication in EPO proceedings (OJ EPO 2015, A28) and the notice from the EPO dated 30 March 2015 (OJ EPO 2015, A36).

The Mailbox may also be accessed through MyEPO Portfolio. For further details, see the decision of the President of the EPO dated 11 May 2022 concerning the web-based online service MyEPO Portfolio (OJ EPO 2022, A51) and the notice from the EPO dated 11 May 2022, (OJ EPO 2022, A52).

In the event that further means are introduced for electronic notification, the conditions and details will follow from the decisions governing the use of such means.