The request for unitary effect should preferably be filed online using EPO Form 7000 in the EPO's online filing tools. Detailed descriptions of the various options can be found on the EPO website (see Filing options on epo.org; see also EPC Guidelines, A‑II, 1.1).
The request for unitary effect can also be filed in person or by postal services with the EPO at its headquarters (Isar) and PschorrHöfe buildings in Munich, its branch at The Hague and its Berlin sub‑office. However, it cannot be filed at the EPO sub‑offices in Vienna and Brussels, and it cannot be filed with the central industrial property office or competent authority of an EPC contracting state (Rule 6(1) UPR). Fax is not a permitted means of filing at the EPO. Requests for unitary effect filed by fax are therefore deemed not to have been received (see the decision of the President of the EPO dated 22 April 2024 concerning the abolition of facsimile (fax) as a means of filing patent applications and other documents (OJ EPO 2024, A41) and the related notice from the EPO (OJ EPO 2024, A42)).