J 0004/00 vom 21.03.2002

A request for examination under Article 94 EPC requires, over and above payment of the examination fee, that the underlying intention of an applicant that its application proceed to examination is manifested in a written statement made by the applicant or its representative addressed to the Office and received there in time. While this requirement is quite distinct from that of payment of the examination fee, there is no prescribed form of words for a request for examination which (as here) can be contained in the same document (here, a telex) as a debit order or other payment instruction. To qualify as a request for examination, the only reasonable interpretation in the circumstances of the case of the text filed with the Office must be that the applicant thereby wanted to inform the Office that it wish to have the application examined pursuant to Article 94 EPC.