An era comes to an end: No 10-days rule any more

Dear epi members,

After we could celebrate last month 50 years of EPC. today marks again a historical day for the European Patent Convention:

The 10-days rule of R. 126 and R. 127 EPC stipulating that documents sent by the EPO were supposed to have been received 10 days after the issuance date written on the document, is not applicable any longer. From now onwards, all documents are supposed to be received on the date shown on the document, unless the document is indeed received later than 7 days after the issuance date.
Whole generations of patent attorneys have internalized the 10-day rule and became used to it because of effectively prolonging any deadline by a couple of days. Now, response periods will be in reality shorter, reflecting that electronic communications have become standard and quicker than paper communication via postal services.

It is important for all European Patent Attorneys to be familiar with the new way of calculating deadlines and therefore epi has produced a video explaining the changes, which can be accessed for free for epi members and epi students here.

EQE candidates should note the announcement of the Supervisory Board which is accessible here .

Yours sincerely,

Peter R. Thomsen
President