The European Patent Office (EPO) will change the way it calculates deadlines for all official communications which bear the date 01 November 2023 or a later date.
The EPO currently adds a fictional 10 days to the date of the communication (to allow for postal delays) the deadline beginning from this fictional delivery date.
For all EPO communications which are dated 01 November 2023 and later, this so-called “10 day Rule” will be abolished. From 01 November 2023, the deadline will be calculated from the date indicated on the communication itself.
Read the full Decision of the Administrative Council here.
As this is a significant change to EPO practice, we ask that you please ensure that your own deadline monitoring reflects this modification and that we receive your instructions in good time before the newly calculated deadlines.
If you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
