2. Notification
2.4 Notification by postal services
All notifications by postal services must be by registered letter (see also OJ EPO 2023, A108 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.
A notified document 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.
Notification is deemed to have been effected, even if acceptance of the 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.