EUROPEAN PATENT CONVENTION - Table of Contents Preface

Preface

This 13th edition of the European Patent Convention (EPC) contains the texts of the Convention, its Implementing Regulations and protocols and the Rules relating to Fees which will apply once the EPC Revision Act of 29 November 2000 enters into force1, together with an extract from the Revision Act and the transitional provisions.

A concordance list showing the new provisions and their counterparts in the text valid prior to the revised EPC's entry into force is set out in Annex II. The index of G decisions is retained as Annex I, and the keyword index has been updated in accordance with the new texts.

Citation practice

When the revised Convention - or "EPC 2000" - enters into force, the text valid until that time ("EPC 1973") will cease to apply. The attribute "2000" will therefore be omitted whenever the revised EPC is cited.

Sometimes, however, it will be necessary to distinguish between the two texts. In such cases, "EPC 1973" will mean

- the Convention on the Grant of European Patents of 5 October 1973 as amended by the act revising Article 63 EPC of 17 December 1991 and by decisions of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation of 21 December 1978, 13 December 1994, 20 October 1995, 5 December 1996, 10 December 1998 and 27 October 2005

and/or

- its Implementing Regulations as last amended by the Administrative Council on 9 December 2004.

These are the versions published in the 2006 (12th) edition of the European Patent Convention. In certain contexts, for example when the older Enlarged Board of Appeal decisions listed in Annex I are cited there may be references to earlier texts of the Convention and the Implementing Regulations.

New text of the EPC

Article 3(1) of the Revision Act authorised the Administrative Council to publish a new EPC text on a proposal from the President of the European Patent Office. Accordingly, the Office drew up a new text of the EPC and its protocols on centralisation, on the interpretation of Article 69 EPC and on the staff complement, so as to align the wording of the English, French and German versions. The Council adopted this new text in its decision of 28 June 20012, whereupon it became an integral part of the Revision Act (Article 3(2) of the Revision Act).

Transitional provisions

Under transitional provisions of EPC 2000, most of the revised provisions apply to patents already granted and applications still pending. However, there are exceptions. To help readers ascertain when a revised provision becomes applicable, extracts from the Revision Act have been included, together with the Council's decision of 28 June 2001 setting out the transitional arrangements under the act's Article 7.

Cross-references

Throughout the text of the Convention and its Implementing Regulations, references to relevant articles and rules (excluding those already quoted in the provision concerned) are given on the right-hand side. These do not claim to be exhaustive, however, and are not part of the official text but simply intended to facilitate its use.

June 2007