8.1 Withdrawal of application or designation 

Applicants may withdraw their application at any time as long as the application is pending, provided that no third parties have proven to the EPO that they have initiated proceedings concerning entitlement to the application pursuant to Rule 14. On whether an application is pending, see A‑IV, 1.1.1.

The same applies to the withdrawal of a designation (see also A‑III, 11.2.4). If all designations are withdrawn, the application is deemed to be withdrawn.

The advantage of withdrawing an application in due time before the end of the eighteen-month period preceding publication is that its contents do not become known to the public (see A‑VI, 1.2). If, furthermore, no rights have been left outstanding and the application has not served as a basis for claiming a right of priority, a subsequent application for the same invention can be considered the first application for the purposes of determining priority (see F‑VI, 1.4.1). If the examination fee has been paid, it will be refunded in full or in part (see A‑VI, 2.5).

Where a patent application has been refused, the proceedings remain pending until the period for filing an appeal has ended. If no appeal is filed, they cease to be pending on the day after the period ends. An application which is refused either in written or oral proceedings can therefore still be withdrawn in this period.