The European Patent Office (EPO) published in its Official Journal on 30 October a decision of the President (OJ EPO 2026, A50, dated 21 October) and an accompanying notice (A51) implementing amended Rule 134 EPC. They set out when EPO electronic communication or payment services count as unavailable, how periods are then extended, and how late acts caused by exceptional occurrences can be saved. The rules apply from 1 April 2027 to periods expiring on or after that date, replace the notice of 22 October 2020, and also apply to unitary patent proceedings.
When a service counts as unavailable
- A permitted means of electronic communication is unavailable if it cannot be accessed or used for reasons attributable to the EPO; periods are extended to the first day on which all means are available again.
- Scheduled maintenance lasting less than 4 hours on a single working day and announced on the EPO website at least 2 working days in advance does not count.
- In case of doubt the EPO decides whether the cause lies with it, and the same rules apply to payment means such as Central Fee Payment. Outages are announced on a dedicated web page with a reference number to quote to the EPO.
Exceptional occurrences: act within 5 days
If a party or representative was affected by an exceptional occurrence under Rule 134(6) EPC when a period expired, a late act counts as timely if performed no later than 5 days after they ceased to be affected. Exceptional occurrences include natural disasters, war, civil disorder and wider internet or power outages; the EPO also treats cyberattacks as qualifying even if few are affected. Unless the EPO waives it, evidence is required, such as reliable media reports, official announcements, provider confirmations, police reports or records of countermeasures.
Where the rules do not help
- Rule 134 covers only periods of a fixed number of days or months, not acts subject to specific conditions such as filing a divisional application under Article 76 EPC.
- It cannot give a date of receipt earlier than the actual one, including an earlier filing date; if in doubt when filing a new or divisional application, use the EPO Contingency Upload Service.
- In the PCT international phase, Rule 82quater.2 PCT applies instead, and likewise not to outages under 4 hours announced 2 working days in advance.
J&C recommends that companies and firms managing European patent deadlines add the new rules to their contingency checklists now: when EPO systems fail, check the outage notice on the EPO website and note its reference number; after an internet or power outage or a cyberattack, keep evidence such as provider confirmations or police reports and complete the missed act within 5 days of the effect ending. The rules apply only from 1 April 2027, so outages before then do not automatically extend periods, and new or divisional applications should be filed early rather than relying on relief.
Source: www.epo.org | www.epo.org
