5.6 Special requirements for applications referring to nucleotide or amino acid sequences

Pursuant to Rule 13ter.3 PCT, where the Euro-PCT application discloses nucleotide or amino acid sequences, a sequence listing in electronic form drawn up in compliance with the applicable WIPO standard must be available to the EPO as designated/elected Office on expiry of the 31-month period.

As a rule, such a sequence listing will be available to the EPO if it was contained in the international application under Rule 5.2 PCT or filed under Rule 13ter PCT with the EPO acting as (S)ISA or IPEA. It will also be accessible to the EPO if it is made available by WIPO on PATENTSCOPE and can be downloaded in a usable form.

The applicant should verify in due time whether the sequence listing is available to the EPO in the required format. If it is not available to the EPO, the applicant must file it before expiry of the 31-month period in the applicable electronic format, preferably via one of the EPO's online filing tools or, if not, on an electronic data carrier (A‑IV, 5). If the required sequence listing is not filed, the procedure under Rule 163(3) and Rule 30(3) applies (A‑XIII, 11.3).

Sequence listings must not be filed on paper or in PDF format, as is set out in the decision of the President of the EPO dated 14 November 2025 (OJ EPO 2025, A64) and in point 6 of the notice from the EPO dated 9 December 2021 (OJ EPO 2021, A97).

Where a sequence listing has been filed or corrected after the filing date, the applicant is required to submit a statement that it does not include matter going beyond the content of the application as filed. This statement can be made by selecting the appropriate checkbox in EPO Form 1200.