New online filing (CMS) is now available for filing the following applications and documents with the EPO:
The PCT Chapter II demand and notice of opposition may only be filed as a PDF of a form completed offline. For all details on the use of new online filing (CMS) please refer to the Decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 10 September 2014 concerning the filing of documents using the EPO case management system (CMS).
New online filing (CMS) is a web-based application that you can access from most browsers.
All you need is a smart card issued by the European Patent Office for secure login. Your smart card must be activated first.
Because the application is web-based, there is no software to install - and consequently no software updates. Data and documents are stored on a secure network hosted by EPO.
An authorised person within your organisation must be appointed to manage access rights for all the members of the organisation, i.e.
This feature allows you to share access to all applications/subsequently filed documents so that different people in the organisation can perform different actions on them (draft, pay fees, sign, submit). At the same time, the system prevents simultaneous updating of an application/document.
Your individual access rights determine which applications/documents you can view and which tasks you can perform.
Portfolio management allows you to manage applications within your organisation. You can now assign applications to folders and remove draft applications.
You can create templates for all form types, either from an existing application or from scratch. Templates are available to all members of an organisation provided they have been granted access rights for the relevant procedure.
You can import all types of applications in XML, e.g. from patent management systems, provided that the format is compliant (EPO Online Filing specification).
You can also import/export an address book (in .csv format) if you have appropriate access rights.
In addition to being able to import an address book (e.g. from the EPO Online Filing client), the address book is shared throughout the organisation. In order to maintain the integrity of address data, editing is restricted based on access rights. You can now also organise the address book using folders.
As you are working online, the fee amounts displayed will always be correct. You can now pay any fee using the Form 1038 option.
