Letter to the Editor

Computing time limits under the EPC

F. Leyder (BE), Chair of the EPPC

The paper “Correcting the Text of a Published Patent”, published in epi Information 02/2016 at pages 43-44, contains the following paragraph:

The appeal can be filed within two months of notification of the decision to grant, i.e. two months from the date of dispatch plus ten days for delivery as specified by either Rule 126(2) EPC or Rule 127(2) EPC.

The readers of this journal are no doubt aware of Rule 126(2) EPC, which states

(2) Where notification is effected by registered letter, whether or not with advice of delivery, such letter shall be deemed to be delivered to the addressee on the tenth day following its posting, unless it has failed to reach the addressee or has reached him at a later date; […]

Rule 127(2) EPC is applicable to electronic transmission and refers to the tenth day following transmission.

Thus, I trust it was immediately evident to our readers that nothing else had been intended than two months from the date of delivery, the deemed date of delivery being specified by either Rule 126(2) EPC or Rule 127(2) EPC as being normally the tenth day after posting or transmission.