INFORMATION FROM THE EPO
Announcement by the President of the EPO of 23 October 1980 concerning the use of an address for correspondence by applicants acting without a representative
1. Applicant firms with operations at different locations have requested the EPO to allow notifications in proceedings before the EPO to be sent direct to the department dealing with the application and to permit a different address, such as the firm's Head Office, to be used in EPO publications, the Register of European Patents and the patent certificate.
2. To meet this request, the EPO will allow as from 1 January 1981 an address for correspondence to be used in European patent applications. In order to ensure that a uniform practice is followed, applicants are asked to comply with the following conditions:
(a) The address for correspondence is to be placed in Section I (Applicant) of the Request for Grant in the box for the address and must be shown as such. The address to be used in publications and the Register is to appear on the left-hand side of this box and the address for correspondence on the right-hand side. For the sake of clarity the address on the right-hand side should appear under the heading "Address for correspondence:".
(b) Notifications from the EPO will be directed to the person named as the applicant in the box on the form marked "Name", at the address given as the address for correspondence. An applicant may only give an address of his own firm for correspondence, since for notifications to be sent to other (natural or legal) persons a valid form of representation is required by Articles 133 and 134 EPC. It is therefore not permissible to include in the address for correspondence a name different from that entered in the box marked "Name". In order to facilitate postal delivery or internal distribution of mail a sub-division of a firm (e.g. Works "X" or Patents Department) may be included but not where such sub-division is a separate legal person.
3. If a representative has been appointed, notifications will only be addressed to him (Rule 81, paragraph 1, EPC). In this case, therefore, no separate address for correspondence may be given for the applicant. Similarly no address for correspondence may be given for the appointed representative (Section II. of the Request for Grant). Addresses for correspondence may not be used by applicants having neither their residence nor their principal place of business within the territory of one of the Contracting States, since they are required to have a professional representative.