INFORMATION FROM THE EPO
List of holidays observed by EPO filing offices and the national patent authorities in 2003
1. Under Rule 85(1) EPC, time limits expiring on a day on which at least one of the filing offices of the EPO is not open for receipt of documents are extended until the first day thereafter on which all the filing offices are open for receipt of documents (see also the Notice from the President of the EPO dated 10 October 2002, OJ EPO 2002, 549).
2. Under Rule 85(3) EPC, the provisions of Rule 85(1) EPC apply also to time limits provided for in the EPC within which transactions are carried out with the central industrial property office or other competent authority of the contracting state.
3. The following table indicates the days on which the EPO and the central industrial property offices or the other competent authorities are not open for receipt of documents relating to European patent applications. The Netherlands are not included in this table since European patent applications and related documents have to be filed directly with the receiving Office of the EPO at The Hague.
4. It is expected that the competent national authorities will fix, during 2003, further days on which the patent authorities of the contracting states are closed. Attention should therefore be paid to corresponding notices in the relevant national publications.
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