Article 19

Decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 25 March 2026 concerning the electronic filing of documents

Article 1

Article 2

1. Subject to Articles 3 and 4 of this decision, European patent applications, international (PCT) applications and other documents relating to such applications or to patents deriving from such applications may be filed with the EPO in electronic form.

2. European patent applications may also be filed in electronic form with the competent national authorities of those contracting states which so permit.

Article 3

1. Responses to a communication from the EPO, requests or notifications, together with accompanying documents, can be filed using MyEPO, on condition and to the extent that such response, request or notification is

   1. provided for in MyEPO and

   2. included in a list published on the EPO website or in any other suitable form.

2. Any submission made in accordance with paragraph 1 is reflected in an electronic document automatically generated within the submission session and put into the file.

3. Any submission made in contravention of paragraph 1 will be deemed not to have been received.

Article 4

1. Priority documents relating to European patent applications or international (PCT) applications in the European phase may be filed electronically, provided they have been digitally signed by the issuing authority and the signature is accepted by the EPO.

2. Priority documents filed in contravention of paragraph 1 will be deemed not to have been received. The sender, if identifiable, will be notified without delay.

Article 5

Article 6

1. Access to and use of Online Filing 2.0 requires an EPO account registered for Online Filing 2.0 and a means of authentication allowed by the EPO.

2. Access to and use of MyEPO requires an EPO account and a means of authentication allowed by the EPO.

3. Access to and use of the EPO Contingency Upload Service provided on the EPO website requires an EPO account and a means of authentication allowed by the EPO or a temporary sign-in with an email address.

Article 7

Article 8

1. Without prejudice to the requirements for the filing of sequence listings in accordance with Article 5 and the possibility to provide technical documents in the original data format when using Online Filing 2.0 in accordance with Article 9, documents may be filed in the following formats:

2. Documents in PDF, TIFF or, where allowed, in XML format must comply with the Administrative Instructions under the PCT, Part 7 and Annex F;³ this does not apply to electronically certified priority documents filed in accordance with Article 4, paragraph 1, documents filed as evidence and digitally signed authorisations, provided they can be viewed without any loss of information. Documents filed in DOCX format other than those filed as evidence must comply with the specifications in the definition of "DOCX" for filing with the European Patent Office.⁴

3. Subject to Article 13, where a filed document does not comply with the required document format, the EPO will invite the party concerned to refile it in accordance with the applicable requirements and within a period to be specified; where the document is a European patent application document, this invitation will be issued in accordance with Rule 58 EPC. If the party concerned fails to comply with the invitation,

   1. where the document is a European patent application document, the application will be refused (Article 90(5) EPC)

   2. where the document is an international (PCT) application document, the provisions of the PCT apply

   3. where the document is a document other than a patent application document, it will be deemed not to have been received.

Article 9

1. Technical documents relating to a European patent application or international (PCT) application (description, claims, abstract and, where applicable, drawings) may, when an application is filed using Online Filing 2.0, in addition be submitted in the data format in which they were created, provided the files contain either plain ASCII text or were created using one of the following word processing programs:

1. Microsoft Word 2010 or later

2. Corel WordPerfect 2000 or later or

3. OpenOffice Writer version 4.0 or later (including the corresponding StarOffice products).

2. Objects created in other programs may be embedded into documents generated using the word processing programs specified in paragraph 1 above as long as they can be viewed without any loss of information.

3. Technical documents in a format other than those mentioned in paragraph 1 above may be attached in that format only if the applicant informs the EPO at the time of filing where it can reasonably acquire the relevant software.

Article 10

Article 11

Article 12

1. Receipt of documents filed online using Online Filing 2.0 or MyEPO in accordance with this decision is acknowledged electronically by the EPO following submission. The acknowledgment of receipt is digitally signed by the EPO and provided in Online Filing 2.0 or MyEPO.

2. Where such acknowledgement is not successfully transmitted using Online Filing 2.0 or MyEPO, the EPO will transmit it by other means without delay, provided it has sufficient information to do so.

3. The acknowledgement indicates the identity of the EPO, the date and time of receipt, a reference or application number assigned by the EPO, a list of the files submitted and a hash value (the message digest).

4. Receipt of documents filed using the EPO Contingency Upload Service in accordance with this decision is acknowledged electronically by the EPO in the service. An acknowledgement indicating in particular the application number, where applicable, is sent according to the provisions governing the filing of documents on paper.

5. Acknowledgement of receipt does not imply the accordance of a date of filing to an application.

Article 13

1. Where a filed document is illegible or incomplete, that part of it which is illegible or missing will be deemed not to have been received.

2. If a filed document is infected with a computer virus or contains other malicious software, it will be deemed to be illegible. The EPO is not obliged to receive, open or process any document with such a deficiency.

3. Where a filed document is found to be deficient within the meaning of paragraph 1 or 2, the sender, if identifiable, will be notified without delay.

Article 14

Article 15

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1. 1 See the decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 25 March 2026 concerning the filing of documents during telephone consultations and during interviews and oral proceedings held by videoconference (OJ EPO 2026, A21).

2. 2 Rule 30 EPC, Rule 13ter PCT, the decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 14 November 2025 on the filing of sequence listings (OJ EPO 2025, A64) and the notices from the European Patent Office dated 9 December 2021 (OJ EPO 2021, A97) and 14 November 2025 concerning the filing of sequence listings (OJ EPO 2025, A66).

3. 3 See Annex F of the Administrative Instructions under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, Standard for the filing and processing in electronic form of international applications, available at wipo.int/pct/en/texts/ai/annex_f.pdf.

4. 4 See the definition of "DOCX" for filing with the European Patent Office dated 25 March 2026 (OJ EPO 2026, A23) and the notice from the EPO dated 25 March 2026 concerning the update to the DOCX definition for filing with the European Patent Office (OJ EPO 2026, A22).

5. 5 See the decision of the President of the EPO dated 9 February 2024 concerning signatures on contracts and declarations under Rules 22 and 85 and Rule 23 EPC (OJ EPO 2024, A17), the decision of the President of the EPO dated 9 February 2024 concerning signatures on contracts and declarations relating to European patents with unitary effect (OJ EPO 2024, A18), the decision of the President of the EPO dated 7 July 2025 on the signing and filing of authorisations (OJ EPO 2025, A45), the notice from the EPO dated 8 July 2024 concerning the signing and filing of authorisations (OJ EPO 2024, A77) and the decision of the President of the EPO dated 7 July 2025 on the signing and filing of authorisations in proceedings under the Rules relating to Unitary Patent Protection (OJ EPO 2025, A46).