Article 102

EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE

Information from the EPO

Decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 11 November 2022 concerning the forthcoming introduction of the Unitary Patent and the possibility of requesting a delay in issuing the decision to grant a European patent in response to a communication under Rule 71(3) EPC

The President of the European Patent Office,

having regard to Article 10(2)(a) EPC,

considering that

• Regulations (EU) No 1257/2012 and (EU) No 1260/2012 setting up the Unitary Patent will apply from the date of entry into force of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (see Article 18(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1257/2012 and Article 7(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1260/2012),
• the Rules relating to Unitary Patent Protection and the Rules relating to Fees for Unitary Patent Protection adopted by the Select Committee of the Administrative Council will also enter into force on the date of application of Regulations (EU) No 1257/2012 and (EU) No 1260/2012,1
• the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPCA) will enter into force on the first day of the fourth month after the deposit of the thirteenth instrument of ratification or accession in accordance with Article 84 UPCA, including the three Member States in which the highest number of European patents had effect in 2012 (Article 89(1) UPCA),
• pursuant to Article 18(6) of Regulation (EU) No 1257/2012, unitary patent protection may be requested for any European patent granted on or after the date of application of that regulation,
• pursuant to Rule 6(1) of the Rules relating to Unitary Patent Protection, a request for unitary effect shall be filed with the European Patent Office no later than one month after publication of the mention of the grant in the European Patent Bulletin,
• applicants for a European patent may have an interest in delaying the issue of the decision to grant their European patent so that the mention of the grant in the European Patent Bulletin will be published on or immediately after the date of entry into force of the UPCA in order to allow for registration of unitary effect for that European patent,

has decided as follows:

Article 1

Request for a delay in issuing the decision to grant a European patent

(1) At an applicant's request, the EPO shall delay issuing its decision to grant a European patent so that the mention of the grant in the European Patent Bulletin will be published on or immediately after the date of entry into force of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court.

(2) A request under paragraph 1 may be validly filed only for European patent applications in respect of which the applicant has been informed of the text intended for grant by a communication under Rule 71(3) EPC but has not yet approved that text. It shall be filed using a dedicated request form provided by the European Patent Office.

(3) Any request under paragraph 1 not meeting the requirements laid down in paragraph 2 or filed before the entry into force of this decision shall be deemed not to have been filed.

Article 2

Entry into force and termination

(1) This decision repeals the decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 22 December 2021 concerning the forthcoming introduction of the Unitary Patent and the possibility of requesting a delay in issuing the decision to grant a European patent in response to a communication under Rule 71(3) EPC as of its date of publication in the Official Journal of the European Patent Office.

(2) Subject to paragraph 3, this decision enters into force on 1 January 2023 and shall apply to all pending European patent applications.

(3) Paragraph 1 enters into force on the date of publication of this decision in the Official Journal of the European Patent Office.

(4) This decision shall cease to have effect on the date of entry into force of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court.

Done at Munich, 11 November 2022

António CAMPINOS

President