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The receipt of an international application at an EPO filing office is, as a rule, acknowledged by post within four working days. The acknowledgement explicitly confirms the receipt of each separate document and item making up the international application (e.g. description, claims, abstract, data carrier, letter, etc.).
On request, the EPO also acknowledges receipt of an international application directly by fax or post upon payment of the administrative fee[ 14 ]. To ensure prompt acknowledgement, the request for fax confirmation and evidence of payment of the administrative fee (e.g. a bank order) or a debit order must be enclosed with the documents or filed at the same time. The applicant should not forget to also provide a fax number to which acknowledgement of receipt is to be sent. If no fax number is indicated, the acknowledgement is sent by post to the address of the applicant or, where applicable, his representative.