2.1 Who may file an international application with the EPO? 

2.1.001An international application may at the applicant's option be filed:

–with the national office of the PCT contracting state of which the applicant is a resident or national, or with the office acting for that state, or 

–with the IB as receiving Office. 

2.1.002A third option exists for applicants who are nationals or residents of a state which is a contracting state to both the PCT¹⁵ and the EPC,¹⁶ since they may also file international applications with the EPO acting as a receiving Office. In such cases it is sufficient that at least one applicant is a national or resident of such a contracting state, regardless of whether that applicant is for example mentioned in Box II of the PCT Request as applicant for the designation of the US or any other PCT contracting state only and, as the case may be, also as inventor. A person mentioned only as inventor does not qualify as an applicant. Hence, the nationality or residence of a person mentioned only as inventor is irrelevant for determining whether the EPO is competent to act as receiving Office.

2.1.003If there are two or more applicants, it is sufficient for at least one of them to satisfy these requirements. For instance, if a national or resident of a contracting state to the PCT and the EPC is mentioned in the PCT request form as inventor and applicant for the purposes of the United States only, the international application may be filed with the EPO as receiving Office regardless of the residence and nationality of the other applicant(s).

2.1.004The national patent offices of Belgium, Monaco, Montenegro and San Marino have ceased to act as receiving Offices under the PCT and delegated this task to the EPO. The EPO will therefore act as receiving Office on their behalf for all international applications filed by applicants who are nationals or residents of one of these states.