4.2 Page numberingNumbering of sheets of drawings

All sheets pages making up the European patent application must be numbered in consecutive Arabic numerals. These must be centred at the top of the sheet page but not in the top margin.

The numbering on sheets pages of drawings must be positioned within the maximum usable surface area as defined in Art. 1(1) of the decision of the President of the EPO dated 25 November 20227 July 2025 (OJ EPO 2025, A49). Instead of appearing in the middle of the sheetpage, the numbering may, however, be positioned towards the right-hand side if the drawing comes too close to the middle of the edge of the usable surface. This numbering should be clear, for example in numbers larger than those used for reference numbers.

All application sheetpage must be numbered consecutively. The application consists of all the following documents: the request, the description, the claims, the any drawings and the abstract. The numbering should preferably be effected using three separate series of numbering, each beginning with one. The first series applies to the request only and is already printed on the form to be used. The second series commences with the first sheetpage of the description and continues through the claims until the last sheet of the abstract. The third series applies only to the sheet page of the drawings and commences with the first sheet page of such drawings.

There are no objections to including the description, claims, abstract and drawings in one series of numbering beginning with one. The series of numbering must then commence with the first sheet of the description.