2. Notification
2.3 Notification by postal services
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A revised version of this publication entered into force. |
All notifications by postal services must be by registered letter (see also OJ EPO 2019, A57). The President of the EPO has, so far, not named any other documents to be notified by registered letter with advice of delivery or equivalent.
Under Rule 126(2) as in force until 31 October 2023, the The letter is deemed to be delivered to the addressee on the tenth day following its handover to the postal service provider, unless the letter has failed to reach the addressee or has reached him at a later date; in the event of any dispute, it is incumbent on the EPO to establish that the letter has reached its destination or to establish the date on which the letter was delivered to the addressee, as the case may be.
With effect from 1 November 2023, Rule 126(2) is amended to read as follows: "Where notification is effected in accordance with paragraph 1, the document shall be deemed to be delivered to the addressee on the date it bears, unless it has failed to reach the addressee. In the event of any dispute concerning the delivery of the document, it shall be incumbent on the EPO to establish that the document has reached its destination and to establish the date on which the document was delivered to the addressee. If the EPO establishes that the document was delivered to the addressee more than seven days after the date it bears, a period for which the deemed receipt of that document is the relevant event under Rule 131, paragraph 2, shall expire later by the number of days by which the seven days were exceeded." (see the decision of the Administrative Council of 13 October 2022, OJ EPO 2022, A101, and the notice from the EPO dated 25 November 2022, OJ EPO 2022, A114).
Notification is deemed to have been effected even if acceptance of the letter has been refused.
The law of the state on the territory of which the notification is made applies to other matters concerning notification, e.g. the question whether delivery to a person other than the addressee constitutes an effective notification to the latter.