4.2 Examination of the request for grant form
4.2.1 Information on the applicant
As specified in Rule 41(2)(c), the request must contain the name, address and nationality of the applicant and the state in which that party's residence or principal place of business is located. Where the application is filed by more than one applicant, the requirement must be satisfied for each applicant.
To verify this for the purpose of Rule 39(2a) (see OJ EPO 2024, A105 and OJ EPO 2024, A106), applicants must always indicate their nationality or nationalities, as well as their residence or place of business.
At this stage in the proceedings, the formalities officer will consider the person named as applicant's entitlement to apply for a patent (A‑II, 2).
Applicants (whether natural or legal persons) whose residence or principal place of business is in an EPC contracting state and who act without a professional representative can use an address for correspondence other than their residence. It must be the applicant's own address and be in an EPC contracting state. For the address to be used in proceedings before the EPO applicants must explicitly inform the EPO that it is to be used for correspondence, preferably by entering it in the box marked "Address for correspondence" on EPO Form 1001 (see the notice from the EPO dated 4 September 2014, OJ EPO 2014, A99). Correspondence cannot be sent to a different (natural or legal) person, since that requires a valid form of representation under Arts. 133 and Art. 134.