1. In view of the current situation with coronavirus (COVID-19), the EPO is extending the list of days on which its filing offices are closed for the receipt of documents. The notice from the President of the European Patent Office dated 16 October 2020 concerning the days on which EPO filing offices are closed in 2021[ 1 ] is therefore amended by adding the days listed below.
2. Additional days on which the EPO's filing offices in Munich, The Hague and Berlin are closed for the receipt of documents:
Days |
| Munich | The Hague | Berlin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Closing day |
04.01.2021 |
● |
● |
● |
Closing day |
05.01.2021 |
● |
● |
● |
Epiphany[ 2 ] |
06.01.2021 |
|
● |
● |
Closing day |
07.01.2021 |
● |
● |
● |
Closing day |
08.01.2021 |
● |
● |
● |
3. Under Rule 134(1) EPC, time limits expiring on a day on which at least one EPO filing office is not open for receipt of documents (closing days) are extended until the first day thereafter on which all the filing offices are open for receipt of documents and on which ordinary mail is delivered. For PCT proceedings, the list applies mutatis mutandis for the purposes of Rule 80.5 PCT.
[ 1 ] See OJ EPO 2020, A115.
[ 2 ] The EPO's filing office at Munich is closed on Epiphany (06.01.2021) in accordance with the notice from the President of the European Patent Office dated 16 October 2020 concerning the days on which EPO filing offices are closed in 2021 (OJ EPO 2020, A115).
Source: http://www.epo.org/law-practice/legal-texts/official-journal/2020/12/a139.html
Date retrieved: 19 May 2021