INFORMATION FROM THE EPO
Decisions of the President of the EPO
Decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 6 June 2003 on the inspection of files
The President of the European Patent Office, having regard to Article 128(4) and Rule 94 EPC and to Rule 94.3 PCT, has decided as follows:
Article 1
Medium for the inspection of files
(1) The files relating to European patent applications and patents, and to international applications under the PCT for which the European Patent Office acts as a designated or elected Office, shall be available under Article 128(4) EPC for online inspection. Access to online file inspection shall be provided in the epoline® area of the European Patent Office website (www.european-patent-office.org).
(2) Files or parts thereof that are not scannable shall be made available for inspection in their original form or as filed.
(3) On request, the European Patent Office shall make files available for inspection by furnishing copies thereof. The request shall not be deemed to have been made until the administrative fee has been paid. Files over 100 pages long shall as a rule be made available on electronic storage media. If paper copies are requested for files or parts thereof over 100 pages long, the resultant costs shall be invoiced separately at a later date.
(4) On request, the European Patent Office shall certify the paper copies furnished under paragraph 3. The request for certification shall not be deemed to have been made until the administrative fee has been paid.
Article 2
Place of inspection
Files made available for inspection under Article 1(2) shall be consultable on the premises of the European Patent Office, where there will also be computers for online file inspection.
Article 3
Entry into force
This decision shall enter into force on 18 June 2003, whereupon Article 2 of the decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 14 May 1998 (OJ EPO 1998, 360) shall cease to apply.
Done at Munich, 6 June 2003
Ingo KOBER
President