2.3 Electronic notification

Where a user has agreed to receive communications electronically, the electronic document is deemed to be delivered to the addressee on the date it bears unless it has failed to reach its destination.

Even if the addressee can access the electronic document before the date of the document, the decisive date for the purpose of the notification fiction under Rule 127(2) is the date of the document.

In the event of any dispute concerning the delivery of the electronic document, it is incumbent on the EPO to establish that the document has reached its destination and to establish the date on which it did so.

If notification is contested and the EPO establishes that the document reached its destination more than seven days after the date it bears, a period triggered by the deemed receipt of that document will be extended by the number of days by which these seven days were exceeded (see the notice from the EPO dated 6 March 2023, OJ EPO 2023, A29). Rule 134(1) applies only once the period is extended according to the safeguard under Rule 127(2). See E‑II, 2.4 for an example.

Notification may occur in electronic form to an activated Mailbox. Electronic notification comprises the decisions, summonses, notices and communications contained in a list published on the EPO website. The Mailbox may also be accessed through MyEPO Portfolio. For further details, see the decision of the President of the EPO dated 9 October 2023 concerning the web-based online service MyEPO Portfolio (OJ EPO 2023, A89) and the notice from the EPO dated 9 October 2023, (OJ EPO 2023, A90).

In the event that further means are introduced for electronic notification, the conditions and details will follow from the decisions governing the use of such means.