EPO Sets New Deadline Safeguards for System Outages Ahead of Its Paperless Switch

By Haedar

Photo: Pexels / Pixabay

The European Patent Office (EPO) has published the rules that will protect applicants when its online systems go down, once paper filing ends. The Administrative Council amended Rule 134 of the European Patent Convention, and the EPO set out the detail in a decision of the President and a notice dated 21 October 2026 (OJ EPO 2026, A50 and A51), announced on 2 November.

The new rules apply from 1 April 2027, the date from which the EPO's grant procedure becomes fully digital, and cover any period that expires on or after that date.

When services are unavailable

If EPO online services are unavailable when a time limit ends, the limit is extended. Planned maintenance does not normally qualify if it lasts under four hours and the EPO has posted a notice online no less than two working days ahead. Users should therefore watch the EPO outage page before filing close to a deadline.

Exceptional events

A second safeguard covers wider disruption that is not the EPO's own fault, for example a natural disaster or a widespread breakdown of electronic communication across a region. If such an event stops a party or its representative from acting on time, the missed step can still be treated as done in time, provided it is completed within five days after the person stops being affected.

What applicants in Indonesia should do

Indonesian applicants who enter the European phase usually act through a European representative, so the safeguards will mostly be applied on their behalf. Even so, local counsel should send instructions early, since the five-day rule depends on showing that the event actually prevented action. Keeping records of outages, such as screenshots and error messages, will help if an extension has to be claimed.

Sources

• EPO: Fully digital patent granting process, further implementing measures to safeguard users (2 Nov 2026)