Article 89

EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE

Information from the EPO

Decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 16 October 2024 concerning the version of the EPO Online Filing software to be used for the electronic filing of documents

Further to the decision dated 16 October 2024 concerning the electronic filing of documents,1 and having regard to Rule 2 EPC, Rule 89bis.1 and 2 PCT and Rule 20(2)(a) of the Rules relating to Unitary Patent Protection, the President of the European Patent Office has decided as follows:

Article 1

Version of the software to be used for electronic filing

1. Under Article 1 of the above-mentioned decision dated 16 October 2024, documents may be filed electronically via the EPO Online Filing (OLF) software. The software is regularly updated and version 5.15 (build 5.0.15.184) or later must now be used for electronic filings by this means.

2. Once this decision has entered into force, electronic filings made using versions of the EPO Online Filing (OLF) software earlier than version 5.15 (build 5.0.15.184) will no longer be accepted by the EPO's receiving server.

Article 2

Previous decision superseded

When this decision enters into force, the decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 24 November 2023 concerning the version of the EPO Online Filing software to be used for the electronic filing of documents (OJ EPO 2023, A96) will cease to have effect.

Article 3

Entry into force

This decision will enter into force on 1 January 2025.

Done at Munich, 16 October 2024

António CAMPINOS

President