4.4.1Where and how to file 

4.4.001After you have filed a European patent application, you may file other documents as referred to in Rule 50 EPC with the EPO either electronically (via the EPO Online Filing software, EPO Online Filing 2.0 or the EPO Web-Form Filing service) or by hand or by postal services. However, the EPO Web-Form Filing service cannot be used to file authorisations and priority documents (see also points 5.5.003, 5.6.002 and 5.7.004). For subsequently filed documents, it is recommended that you use the electronic filing tools. The EPO provides forms which serve either as a prepared acknowledgement of receipt (EPO Form 1037 for paper filings only) or as a letter accompanying subsequently filed documents (EPO Form 1038 for submissions filed on paper or EPO Form 1038E for online submissions).

4.4.002If you filed the application with a national authority, you may likewise file all other documents relating to the application with that authority, subject to any restrictions under national law, but only until the date on which you receive notification that the EPO has received your application. Once you have received this notification, you must file any documents with the EPO directly. 

Subsequently filed documents replacing parts of the European patent application, i.e. the description, claims, drawings and the abstract, must also meet the formal requirements of Rule 49 and, in the case of drawings, of Rule 46 too, and must be filed in typed form.