Article 22

Notice from the European Patent Office dated 25 March 2026 concerning the filing of documents in DOCX format

1. Introduction

1. As part of the continuing digitalisation of its services and following the successful conclusion of the pilot project on DOCX filing, the European Patent Office (EPO) will permit documents to be filed in DOCX format in both proceedings under the European Patent Convention (EPC) and proceedings related to European patents with unitary effect with effect from 1 April 2026. This development lays the foundation for end‑to‑end electronic processing and extends to application documents, translations, amendments, marked-up copies for identification of amendments, letters and other submissions, including from third parties.

2. The decisions of the President concerning the electronic filing of documents (OJ EPO 2025, A52), the web-based online service MyEPO and electronic notification to the Mailbox in proceedings under the EPC and the PCT (OJ EPO 2024, A20) and the filing of documents during telephone consultations and during interviews and oral proceedings held by videoconference (OJ EPO 2020, A71) as well as the definition of "DOCX" for filing with the EPO (OJ EPO 2025, A50) have been updated accordingly. The decision of the President concerning the web-based online service MyEPO Portfolio and electronic notification to the Mailbox in proceedings related to European patents with unitary effect (OJ EPO 2024, A19) remains unchanged.

2. Scope

3. With effect from 1 April 2026, European patent applications and other documents submitted in proceedings under the EPC and the Rules relating to Unitary Patent Protection (UPR) may be filed in DOCX format.¹

4. International applications and other documents submitted in the international phase may not be filed in DOCX format as such, as this is not a permitted filing format under Annex F of the Administrative Instructions under the PCT.²

5. However, and as before, applicants may prepare their international application in DOCX format and upload it via Online Filing 2.0 or WIPO's ePCT filing system by selecting DOCX format – for conversion to Application Body XML, in which case the filing tool converts the document into XML format prior to submission. When uploading an international application in DOCX format, the application must be submitted as a single specification document containing the entire application body (description, claims, abstract and drawings, if any).

6. The converted XML file is considered the original application body, while the DOCX source file is automatically included as a document in pre-conversion format to facilitate the correction of any conversion issues.

7. Subsequently filed documents in the international phase (e.g. amendments under Article 19 or 34 PCT) cannot be uploaded in DOCX format and must be submitted in the prescribed format.

8. Applicants are not required to provide a copy of the international application upon entry into the European phase. There is therefore no provision to refile the application documents in DOCX format at this point; processing by the EPO as designated or elected Office will be based on the application in the format available to it. Amendments and other documents filed upon entry into the European phase or thereafter may, however, be filed in DOCX format.

9. The following cannot be filed in DOCX format:

3. Requirements, amendments

10. Documents in DOCX format may be filed electronically via Online Filing 2.0, via MyEPO where applicable, via the EPO Contingency Upload Service and, during oral proceedings or consultations held by videoconference, via email.⁶ They must conform to the definition of "DOCX" for filing with the European Patent Office (version 3) dated 25 March 2026 (hereinafter "DOCX definition"),⁷ without prejudice to the presentation requirements for application documents under Rule 49 EPC, where applicable.⁸

11. Application documents or their translation may be filed either as a single DOCX file containing the complete application body (description, claims, abstract and, where applicable, drawings) in accordance with the specific requirements in the DOCX definition,⁹ or in separate DOCX files for each element of the application (description, claims, abstract, and, where applicable, drawings). They must not contain tracked changes, comments or similar. Drawings may, at the applicant's discretion, be included in the single application body, filed as a separate DOCX file, or alternatively submitted separately in PDF format.

12. Amendments to application documents may be submitted only

13. It is not recommended to submit amendments in the form of replacement pages, as the pagination of documents filed in DOCX format may vary depending on the software used to display them. References to page numbers are not a reliable means of identifying amended content. Where amendments are nevertheless submitted with reference to pages, the extent of the replacement must be clearly and unambiguously specified by reference to the text concerned (for example, by citing headings or the first and last sentences).

14. With a view to allowing easy reference, it is recommended that each paragraph of the description be numbered consecutively.

15. For the purpose of identifying amendments, as required, for example, under Rule 137(4) EPC, in addition to a clean version of the amended documents (see para. 12 above), marked-up copies (i.e. versions with tracked changes and/or comments) may be filed in DOCX format too.¹¹

16. For letters, declarations, similar documents and third-party observations, which can also be submitted in DOCX format, the general requirements set out in the DOCX definition apply. Documents filed as evidence do not have to conform to these requirements, as long as they can be viewed and rendered without any loss of information.

4. Legal copy, PDF back-up copy

17. Documents filed in DOCX format constitute the legally binding version.

18. Applicants may file a PDF back-up copy of a DOCX document, together with the DOCX document, in the same submission. This PDF back-up copy may be relied on as evidence of the intended content in the event of discrepancies, especially where a correction is requested, and will be available for file inspection.

5. Processing

19. Where applicable, the additional fee for a European patent application comprising more than 35 pages ("page fee") will be calculated upon filing by Online Filing 2.0. In all other cases, the additional fee, if any, will be based on a PDF rendering of the application documents in DOCX format.

20. Until further notice, the EPO will generate PDF versions of any document for the purpose of file inspection, for the creation of certified copies and for processing in EPO legacy tools that are not equipped to handle documents in DOCX format.

21. Where the complete set of documents that will form the basis of the decision to grant – i.e. claims, description, abstract and drawings, if any – is available in DOCX format and can be notified to the Mailbox, these documents will be communicated in that format, together with the communication under Rule 71(3) EPC (EPO Form 2004). In the initial phase after 1 April 2026, and in all cases where not all of the documents have been filed with the EPO in DOCX format, the documents intended for grant will, for the purpose of electronic notification and file inspection, continue to be generated in PDF.

6. Shared area

22. Documents in DOCX format may continue to be used in the shared area.¹² With DOCX now an accepted filing format, a version agreed between applicants and examiners may, as the clean version, be filed directly using Online Filing 2.0 or MyEPO, where applicable, without any need for further rendering or conversion.

7. File inspection, priority document

23. Where available, DOCX documents will be accessible for file inspection via MyEPO and the European Patent Register service (including, where applicable, the Unitary Patent Register), together with PDF versions generated by the EPO.

24. Electronic priority documents issued by the EPO will comprise the certified copy document in PDF format, even if the application was filed in DOCX format, in accordance with the technical specifications for electronic priority documents under Article 2 of the decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 16 January 2025 concerning the issuing of electronic priority documents.¹³

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1. 1 See the decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 25 March 2026 concerning the electronic filing of documents, OJ EPO 2026, A19.

2. 2 Administrative Instructions under the PCT, Annex F, available at wipo.int/documents/d/pct-system/docs-en-texts-ai-anf.pdf.

3. 3 See OJ EPO 2025, A64.

4. 4 See the decision of the President of the EPO dated 25 March 2026 concerning the electronic filing of documents, OJ EPO 2026, A19.

5. 5 WIPO Standard ST. 92, Annex III.

6. 6 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).

7. 7 See the definition of "DOCX" for filing with the European Patent Office (version 3) dated 25 March 2026, OJ EPO 2026, A23.

8. 8 See, at present, the decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 7 July 2025 on the presentation of application and other documents, OJ EPO 2025, A49.

9. 9 See the definition of "DOCX" for filing with the European Patent Office (version 3) dated 25 March 2026, section 2.

10. 10 See the definition of "DOCX" for filing with the European Patent Office (version 3) dated 25 March 2026, section 1(h) and (g).

11. 11 See the definition of "DOCX" for filing with the European Patent Office (version 3) dated 25 March 2026, section 4.

12. 12 See the notice from the European Patent Office dated 31 May 2023 concerning the introduction of a shared area in MyEPO Portfolio, OJ EPO 2023, A59.

13. 13 See OJ EPO 2025, A8.