EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE
Information from the EPO
Notice from the President of the European Patent Office dated 16 December 2020 concerning the days on which EPO filing offices are closed in 2021
Version consolidating the text published in OJ EPO 2020, A115 and the amendments published in OJ EPO 2020, A1391
1. Under Rule 134(1) EPC, time limits expiring on a day on which at least one EPO filing office is not open for receipt of documents (closing days) are extended until the first day thereafter on which all the filing offices are open for receipt of documents and on which ordinary mail is delivered. For PCT proceedings, the list below applies mutatis mutandis for the purposes of Rule 80.5 PCT.
2. In 2021, as hitherto, the EPO's filing offices in Munich, The Hague and Berlin will be closed for the receipt of documents on every Saturday and Sunday. The other closing days in 2021 are listed below:
Days |
| Munich | The Hague | Berlin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
New Year's Day |
01.01.2021 |
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● |
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Closing day |
04.01.2021 |
● |
● |
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Closing day |
05.01.2021 |
● |
● |
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Epiphany |
06.01.2021 |
● |
● |
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Closing day |
07.01.2021 |
● |
● |
● |
Closing day |
08.01.2021 |
● |
● |
● |
International Women's Day |
08.03.2021 |
|
|
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Good Friday |
02.04.2021 |
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● |
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Easter Monday |
05.04.2021 |
● |
● |
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King's Day |
27.04.2021 |
|
● |
|
Liberation Day |
05.05.2021 |
|
● |
|
Ascension Day |
13.05.2021 |
● |
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Whit Monday |
24.05.2021 |
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Corpus Christi |
03.06.2021 |
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|
|
All Saints' Day |
01.11.2021 |
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|
|
Christmas Eve |
24.12.2021 |
● |
● |
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Bridging day |
27.12.2021 |
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Bridging day |
28.12.2021 |
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● |
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Bridging day |
29.12.2021 |
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● |
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Bridging day |
30.12.2021 |
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● |
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New Year's Eve |
31.12.2021 |
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● |
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1 In the table under point 2, rows 2, 3, 5 and 6 have been added and row 4 has been amended.