J 0004/91 (Additional period for renewal fee) of 22.10.1991

1. When calculating the six-month period for the payment of a renewal fee with additional fee under Article 86(2) EPC, Rule 83(4) EPC should be applied mutatis mutandis in the light of Rule 37(1), first sentence, EPC. This means that the six-month period does not end on the day of the subsequent sixth month corresponding "in number" to the due date according to Rule 37(1), first sentence, EPC, but on the day which is equivalent to this due date by virtue of its being "the last day of the month". For the purposes of calculating the additional period under Article 86(2) EPC, therefore, Rule 83(4) EPC, in the context of Rule 37(1), first sentence, EPC, results in a period running "from the last day of the month to the last day of the month". (Decision diverges from J 31/89 of 31 October 1989 - not published).

2. Legal Advice No. 5/80, "Calculation of aggregate time limits" (OJ EPO 1980, 149), is not applicable to the start of the additional period under Article 86(2) EPC. This means that the period starts on the last day of the month referred to in Rule 37(1), first sentence, EPC, even in the circumstances described in Rule 85(1), (2) and (4) EPC. It follows that the occurrence of such circumstances at the beginning of the period does not result in the end of the period being postponed beyond the end of the sixth month and into the seventh month.