INFORMATION FROM THE EPO
Notice dated 28 April 1997 concerning the revised Request for Grant form
A revised Request for Grant form1 containing changes to Sections 32 to 34 will be introduced in the middle of June 1997.
The revised form and amended Notes are reproduced below.
It is recommended that applicants use the revised form, although copies of the previous version2 may be used up.
Explanation of changes
On 5 December 1996 the Administrative Council decided to amend Article 79(2) EPC with effect from 1 July 19973. The amendment extends the period for payment of designation fees. Having consulted SACEPO, the Office decided to replace the current system of designating contracting states - a combination of express and precautionary designations4 - by one in which all the EPC contracting states are expressly designated. To this end the box under No. 1 in the new Section 32 of the form has been pre-crossed, thereby designating within the meaning of Article 79(1) EPC all states which belong to the EPC on the day the EP application is filed. The precautionary designation has thus been replaced by an express designation.
Under No. 2 in Section 32, applicants should indicate the states for which they intend (at the time of filing) to pay designation fees. In conjunction with the pre-crossed declaration at the bottom of this section, this will make it easier to ensure that designation fees paid are properly debited and to avoid unnecessary communications in cases where applicants are not interested in patent protection for certain states and intentionally do not pay the designation fees. If a designation fee is not paid within the basic time limit of Article 79(2) EPC, communications under Rules 85a(1) and 69(1) EPC will only be issued with regard to designated states for which the applicant has declared his intention to pay designation fees. No communications will be sent regarding the other designated states. However, applicants may pay further designation fees (with surcharge) within the period of grace laid down in Rule 85a(2) EPC.
Former Section 33a, with the precautionary designation of all contracting states and the associated applicant's declarations, has been removed. Romania has been added to Section 34 as a new extension state5. Former Section 32 becomes section 33.
For technical reasons, the forms embedded in this article are only available in the PDF version.
1 The revised form ("EPA/EPO/OEB Form 1001 07.97") is obtainable free of charge from the EPO (preferably from Vienna, but also from Munich, The Hague and Berlin) and the central industrial property offices of the contracting states.
3 OJ EPO 1997, 13, 79, 10, 160 and 215.
4 See Sections 33 and 33a in the current version of the form, OJ EPO 1996, 524.