Decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 12 July 2007 concerning documents excluded from file inspection (OJ EPO 2007, Special edition No. 3, 125)

The President of the European Patent Office, having regard to Article 128(4) and Rule 144(d) EPC, has decided as follows:

Article 1

Documents excluded from file inspection

(1) The following shall be excluded from file inspection by the Office of its own motion:

(a) medical certificates;

(b) documents relating to the issue of priority documents, file-inspection proceedings or the communication of information from the files, and requests for exclusion from inspection under paragraph 2(a);

(c) requests for accelerated search and accelerated examination under the "PACE" programme, if they are submitted using EPO Form 1005 or in a separate document.

(2) Documents or parts thereof other than those referred to in paragraph 1

(a) shall be excluded from file inspection at the reasoned request of a party or his representative if their inspection would be prejudicial to the legitimate personal or economic interests of natural or legal persons;

(b) may, exceptionally, be excluded from file inspection by the Office of its own motion if their inspection would be prima facie prejudicial to the legitimate personal or economic interests of natural or legal persons other than a party or his representative.

(3) Documents covered by a request under paragraph 2(a) shall be excluded from file inspection provisionally, pending a final decision on the request. If the request is not granted, they shall be open for inspection as soon as the decision refusing it becomes final.

Article 2

Entry into force

This decision shall enter into force upon the entry into force of the revised text of the Convention in accordance with Article 8 of the Revision Act, and supersedes the decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 7 September 2001 (OJ EPO 2001, 458). Paragraph 1(c) of Article 1 shall apply to PACE requests received by the EPO on or after 3 December 2001.

Done at Munich, 12 July 2007

Alison BRIMELOW

President