Rule 22
Re-establishment of rights

(1)A proprietor of a European patent or of a European patent with unitary effect who, in spite of all due care required by the circumstances having been taken, was unable to observe a time limit vis-à-vis the European Patent Office shall have his rights re-established upon request if the non-observance of this time limit has the direct consequence of causing the European patent with unitary effect to lapse according to Rule 14, paragraph 1(b), or the loss of any other right or means of redress.

(2)Any request for re-establishment of rights under paragraph 1 shall be filed in writing within two months of the removal of the cause of non-compliance with the period, but at the latest within one year of expiry of the unobserved time limit. However, a request for re-establishment of rights in respect of the period specified in Rule 6, paragraph 1, shall be filed within two months of expiry of that period. The request for re-establishment of rights shall not be deemed to have been filed until the fee prescribed in the Rules relating to Fees for Unitary Patent Protection has been paid.

(3)The request shall state the grounds on which it is based and shall set out the facts on which it relies. The omitted act shall be completed within the relevant period for filing the request according to paragraph 2. 

(4)The European Patent Office shall grant the request, provided that the conditions laid down in the present Rule are met. Otherwise, it shall reject the request. 

(5)If the request is granted, the legal consequences of the failure to observe the time limit shall be deemed not to have ensued. 

(6)Re-establishment of rights shall be ruled out in respect of the time limit for requesting re-establishment of rights and in respect of the period referred to in Rule 7, paragraph 3.

(7)Any person who, in one or several participating Member States, has in good faith used or made effective and serious preparations for using an invention which is the subject of a European patent with unitary effect in the period between the loss of rights referred to in paragraph 1 and publication in the Register for unitary patent protection of the mention of re-establishment of those rights, may without payment continue such use in the course of his business or for the needs thereof.