Further to the decision dated 26 February 2009 concerning the electronic filing of documents 1, and having regard to Rule 2 EPC and Rule 89bis.1 and 2 PCT, the President of the European Patent Office has decided as follows:

Article 1 Software to be used for electronic filing

(1) Electronic filings in accordance with Article 5 of the above-mentioned deci- sion dated 26 February 2009 must be made using version 5 Service Pack 3.1 (build 5.0.0.057) or later releases of the EPO Online Filing software.

(2) Once this decision has entered into force, electronic filings using releases earlier than version 5 Service Pack 3.1 (build 5.0.0.057) will no longer be accepted by the Office's receiving server.

Article 2 International (PCT) applications

Article 1(2) shall not apply to interna- tional (PCT) applications filed in elec- tronic form with the European Patent Office as receiving Office under the PCT. Such applications prepared and filed using PCT-SAFE or releases of the EPO Online Filing software earlier than version 5 Service Pack 3.1 (build 5.0.0.057) will be accepted by the Office's receiving server.

1 See OJ EPO 2009, 182.

Article 3 Previous decisions superseded

When this decision enters into force, the decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 8 February 2010 concerning the EPO Online Filing software to be used for the electronic filing of documents (OJ EPO 2010, 226) shall cease to have effect.

Article 4 Entry into force

This decision shall enter into force on 1 March 2013.

Done at Munich, 31 May 2012

Benot BATTISTELLI President

References: r2; r_89bis_pct;