On October 13, 2022, the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organization adopted a series of amendments to the Implementing Regulations of the European Patent Convention (EPC). Among these changes are those affecting the rules regarding notifications issued by the European Patent Office (EPO), which will take effect on November 1, 2023.
Subsequently, on March 6, 2023, the OEP issued its own statement on the matter, explaining how those changes would be implemented.
Under current rules, a document issued by the OEP is considered to have been served on the tenth day following its delivery to the OEP’s postal services, or on the tenth day following its transmission via electronic communication. This measure was taken to account for possible delays resulting from the delivery of documents by regular mail.
However, today, the increasingly widespread use of the OEP’s “Mailbox” service—which was launched in 2011—has made communications immediate. For this reason, in order to adapt to the principle of instant electronic notification, the rules have been revised, and as of November 1, 2023, documents will be considered served on the date printed on the communication, if sent by mail, or on the date of the electronically served document, thereby ending the so-called “10-day rule.”
Given that the date of notification of the document is the date from which the period established in that document begins to run, these changes have a direct effect on the calculation of time limits. For example, if we consider a notification from the OEP dated April 11, 2023, which sets a 4-month response period, under the current regulations it will be considered served on April 21, 2023, and the response period will end on August 21, 2023. Under the changes that will take effect in November, the document will be deemed served on April 11, 2023, and the response period will end on August 11, 2023.
Therefore, one of the first consequences of the elimination of the “10-day rule” is that deadlines are shorter; consequently, special care must be taken when completing the relevant procedures, especially in cases where the process drags on until the very end of the established deadline.
On the other hand, these changes result in greater simplicity and uniformity compared to proceedings in other jurisdictions, since this “fictitious” 10-day extension of deadlines applied only to proceedings before the OEP.
At ELZABURU, our team of professionals and our systems are already prepared to implement the changes effective November 1, 2023, ensuring that the necessary actions are taken to safeguard our clients’ rights within the established deadlines.
Dr. Ma Mercedes García, European Patent Attorney, Associate Partner at ELZABURU.