Furthermore, the proprietor(s) and, where applicable, the initial applicant(s) must either be a natural person or fall within one of the following categories as provided for in Rule 8(2) UPR:
- small and medium-sized enterprises as defined in European Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC dated 6 May 2003 or
- non-profit organisations as defined in Art. 2(1)(14) Regulation (EU) No 1290/2013 or
- universities or public research organisations.
Universities and public research organisations are not expressly defined in any EU legislation but a definition – as well as more details on the definitions of small and medium-sized enterprises and non-profit organisations – can be found in the notice from the EPO dated 25 January 2024 (OJ EPO 2024, A8).