In accordance with Art. 112a(4) EPC, a petition for review shall be filed within two months of notification of the decision of the Board of Appeal (or within two months of the date on which the criminal act has been established where applicable).

In R 3/14 the Enlarged Board held that it was essential to observe the two-month time limit expressly prescribed in Art. 112a(4) EPC, second sentence, EPC for filing the reasons for the petition and the supporting submissions; no exceptions could be made.

In R 5/14 the Enlarged Board stated that filing a petition and paying the fee before the orally announced decision has been notified to the petitioner in writing did not make it inadmissible under Art. 112a(4) EPC (see also R 20/10).

In R 2/10 the Enlarged Board held that the established jurisprudence of the boards of appeal that mere payment of the appeal fee was not an act which sufficed for the admissible filing of an appeal applied mutatis mutandis to petition for review proceedings.