Part X – International applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty – Euro-PCT applications
Article 153180
The European Patent Office as designated Office or elected Office
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16th edition: this version presents the text in force on 1 July 2020. |
(1) The European Patent Office shall be
(a) a designated Office for any State party to this Convention in respect of which the PCT is in force, which is designated in the international application and for which the applicant wishes to obtain a European patent, and
(b) an elected Office, if the applicant has elected a State designated pursuant to letter (a).
(2) An international application for which the European Patent Office is a designated or elected Office, and which has been accorded an international date of filing, shall be equivalent to a regular European application (Euro-PCT application).
(3) The international publication of a Euro-PCT application in an official language of the European Patent Office shall take the place of the publication of the European patent application and shall be mentioned in the European Patent Bulletin.
(4) If the Euro-PCT application is published in another language, a translation into one of the official languages shall be filed with the European Patent Office, which shall publish it. Subject to Article 67, paragraph 3, the provisional protection under Article 67, paragraphs 1 and Article 67, paragraphs 2, shall be effective from the date of that publication.
(5) The Euro-PCT application shall be treated as a European patent application and shall be considered as comprised in the state of the art under Article 54, paragraph 3, if the conditions laid down in paragraph 3 or 4 and in the Implementing Regulations are fulfilled.
(6) The international search report drawn up in respect of a Euro-PCT application or the declaration replacing it, and their international publication, shall take the place of the European search report and the mention of its publication in the European Patent Bulletin.
(7)181 A supplementary European search report shall be drawn up in respect of any Euro-PCT application under paragraph 5. The Administrative Council may decide that the supplementary search report is to be dispensed with or that the search fee is to be reduced.
180See decision of the Enlarged Board of Appeal G 4/08 (Annex I).
181See decision of the Administrative Council CA/D 10/05 of 27.10.2005 (OJ EPO 2005, 548) on reducing the fee for the supplementary European search report for international applications for which the international search report is drawn up by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Japan Patent Office, the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the Chinese Intellectual Property Office, the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks (Russian Federation) or IP Australia (applicable to all international applications filed on or after 01.07.2005).
See decision of the Administrative Council CA/D 11/09 of 28.10.2009 (OJ EPO 2009, 594) dispensing with the supplementary European search report in the case of an international application where the international search report or supplementary international search report was drawn up by the European Patent Office.
See Articles 2 and 4(3) of the Decision of the Administrative Council CA/D 12/15 of 16 December 2015 amending Article 2 of the Rules relating to Fees and adjusting the amount of the reduction in the fee for the supplementary European search where the international or supplementary international search report was drawn up by one of the European International Searching Authorities (Austrian Patent Office, Finnish Patent and Registration Office, Spanish Patent and Trademark Office, Swedish Patent and Registration Office, Nordic Patent Institute); this decision is applicable to international applications filed up to and including 30.06.2016 where the fee for the supplementary European search is paid on or after 01.04.2016.
See Decisiondecision of the Administrative Council CA/D 8/15 of 16 December 2015.12.2015 (OJ EPO 2016, A2) reducing the fee for the supplementary European search where the international search report or supplementary international search report was drawn up by the Austrian Patent Office, the Finnish Patent and Registration Office, the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office, the Swedish Patent and Registration Office, the Nordic Patent Institute or the Visegrad Patent Institute; this decision is applicable to international applications filed up to and including 31.03.2020 where the fee for the supplementary European search is paid on or after 01.07.2016.
See decision of the Administrative Council CA/D 9/17 of 28.06.2017 (OJ EPO 2017, A57) reducing the fee for the supplementary European search where the international search report or supplementary international search report was drawn up by the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office; the decision is applicable to international applications filed as from 08.03.2017, up to and including 31.03.2020, for which the international search report or supplementary international search report was drawn up by the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office and where the fee for a supplementary European search is paid on or after 01.07.2017.
See decision of the Administrative Council CA/D 16/17 of 13.12. 2017 (OJ EPO 2018, A3), abrogating the decision of the Administrative Council CA/D 10/05 (OJ EPO 2005, 548) concerning cases where the search fee for the supplementary European search is to be reduced. As of 1 April 2018, the search fee for a supplementary European search is no longer reduced for international applications on which an international search report has been drawn up by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the Japan Patent Office, the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks (Russian Federation), the Australian Patent Office, the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China (SIPO) or the Korean Intellectual Property Office.
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EPC EPC 1973 Art. 153(1) Art. 156 Art. 153(3), (4), (5) Art. 158 Art. 153(6), (7) Art. 157(1), (2), (3)