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The European Patent Convention of 1973 ("EPC 1973") was comprehensively revised in November 2000 ("EPC 2000"). The revised text of the EPC entered into force on 13 December 2007. Since that date some of the Implementing Regulations to EPC 2000 have been further revised. The most up-to-date version of EPC 2000 is provided on the EPO website.[ 1 ] In the following any reference made to the articles of the EPC and the rules of the Implementing Regulations relates to EPC 2000.
Part X of the EPC forms the legal basis for all EPO activities under the PCT. It contains only four provisions: Articles 150-153 EPC. These provisions are implemented by the provisions of the Implementing Regulations to the EPC, in particular Rules 157-165 EPC, and by further legislation such as decisions of the President and the Administrative Council of the EPO.
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Articles 150-153 EPC and Rules 157-165 EPC apply both to applications with an international filing date on or after 13 December 2007 and to international applications filed before that date. Only in respect of the non-unity procedure before the EPO as ISA and IPEA does an exception to this principle apply (see points 270 and 396).