1. Request for examination 

For examination of a European patent application to begin, the applicant must file a request for examination and pay the examination fee. The request for examination, which is not deemed filed until after the examination fee's payment, may be filed in the period between the application's filing date of filing and the last day of the six months after the date on which the European Patent Bulletin mentions the European search report's publication (see A‑VI, 2.1). If the request for examination is not filed within this period, the application is deemed withdrawn. However, in such a case, the applicant can file a request for further processing pursuant to Art. 121. The amount of the further processing fee to be paid depends on how many and which of the actions required for a valid request for examination have been omitted (see E‑VIII, 2). According to Rule 70(1), the request for examination may not be withdrawn.

Subject to certain exceptions, the applicant must also respond to the search opinion within the above period for filing the request for examination (see B‑XI, 9 and C‑II, 3.1) unless the EPO invites them to confirm an early request for examination according to Rule 70(2), in which case they must respond to the search opinion within the period provided for under Rule 70(2) (see C‑II, 1.1).

Responsibility for examining the application passes from the Receiving Section to the examining division when a request for examination is filed. This is subject to two exceptions:

(i)if the applicant files a request for examination before the European search report is sent to them, then the examining division is responsible only from the time when the EPO receives the applicant's response to the invitation to confirm under Rule 70(2)

(ii)if the applicant, having waived the right to receive an invitation to confirm under Rule 70(2) (see C‑VI, 3), files a request for examination before the European search report is sent to them, then the examining division is responsible only from the time when the search report is sent to the applicant.