Inspection of the files of European patent applications or of European patents by courts or authorities of the Contracting States shall be of the original documents or of copies thereof; Rule 145 shall not apply.
Courts or Public Prosecutors' offices of the Contracting States may, in the course of their proceedings, communicate to third parties files or copies thereof transmitted to them by the European Patent Office. Such communications shall be effected in accordance with Article 128 and shall not be subject to any fee.
The European Patent Office shall, when transmitting the files, draw attention to the restrictions which may, under Article 128, paragraphs 1 and Article 128, paragraphs 4, apply to file inspection by third parties.
Source: http://www.epo.org/law-practice/legal-texts/html/epc/2016/e/r149.html
Date retrieved: 17 May 2021