INFORMATION FROM THE EPO
Decisions of the President of the EPO
Decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 5 October 2010 on the filing of copies of search results under Rule 141(1) EPC – utilisation scheme1
The President of the European Patent Office, having regard to Rules 141(1) and (2) and Rule 70b(1) and (2) of the European Patent Convention (EPC), has decided as follows:
Article 1
Inclusion of a copy of the search results in the file of a European patent application
The European Patent Office shall include in the file of a European patent application a copy of the search results referred to in Rule 141(1) EPC where a search report of the following type was drawn up by the European Patent Office on an application whose priority is claimed:
- European search report (Article 92 EPC)
- international search report (Article 15(1) PCT)
- international-type search (Article 15(5) PCT)
- search report made on behalf of a national office on a national application (Belgium, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Turkey).
In these cases, the applicant shall be exempted from filing a copy of the search results under Rule 141(1) EPC.
Article 2
Entry into force
This decision shall enter into force on 1 January 2011 and shall apply to European patent applications and international applications filed on or after that date.
Done at Munich, 5 October 2010
Benoît BATTISTELLI
President
1 See notice from the European Patent Office dated 28 July 2010 concerning amended Rule 141 EPC and new Rule 70b EPC - utilisation scheme, OJ EPO 2010, 410.