Subject to the restrictions provided for in Art. 128(1) to Art. 128(4) and Rule 144 (see A‑XI, 2.3), the EPO may, upon request, communicate information concerning any file of a published European patent application or a European patent. This is subject to the payment of an administrative fee (see A‑XI, 1, and OJ EPO 2019, A14 and OJ EPO 2019, A15).[Rule 146; ]

However, the EPO may refer to the option to obtain inspection of the file itself, should it deem this to be appropriate in view of the quantity of information to be supplied.

Correspondence from the proceedings relating to the communication of information conducted between the EPO and the person requesting the information is filed in the part of the file which is not accessible to the public. The EPO does not provide the applicant with any information about the proceedings relating to the communication of information.