OJ 2015/4: Notice about mailbox (OJ 2015, A36)

Notice of the European Patent Office dated 30 March 2015 concerning amendments to Rules 2, 124, 125, 126, 127, 129, 133 and 134 EPC, and the decisions of the President of the European Patent Office dated 11 March 2015 on the late receipt of documents and on the pilot project to introduce new means of electronic communication

OJ 2015, A36

• The implementing regulations have been changed to replace "post" by "postal services", so that the EPO can use commercial post services.
• Rule 127(2) now specifies the 10-day rule for electronic communications. Note that in case of delivery in the Mailbox after the printed date, the 10 period is (apparently) added, based on Art 9(4) of the Decision about Electronic Communication (OJ 2015, A28). (Point 3.2 of the Notice). For paper notifications, this is not the case: if received after more than 10 days, the time limit runs from the date of actual receipt.