EPO and EUIPO extend the terms

EPO and EUIPO have announced the terms at both institutions will be extended due to obstructions caused by the COVID-19.

The EPO decided to apply extraordinary measures provided in the European Patent Convention (EPC) and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), more specifically Rule 134 (2) EPC.

As a result, most of the official terms will be extended till April 17^th, 2020, with the possibility of further extension if necessary.

The extension of time limits also applies to PCT applications handled by the EPO (Article 150 (2) EPC). The whole announcement is available here.

EUIPO has taken a similar measure and announced on March 16^th the Office “will extend all deadlines between March 9^th and April 30^th, which will affect all parties before the Office till May 1st, 2020.” The full EUIPO decision can be found here.