2015年2月25日 星期三

EPO一些文件遞送的修正

歐洲專利局修改一些實施規則(rules)。這2014年10月決定的修正將於2015年4月開始實施。
(本次修正Rules 2, 124, 125, 126, 127, 129, 133 and 134都是有關郵寄遞送EPO通知,中文摘要與修正後規定如下,英文黑體字為主要修正字眼)

Rule 2(1) shall read as follows:
(專利文件可親自遞送,或是透過郵政服務、電子通訊等,也不排除其他EPO認可的格式文件)
"(1) In proceedings before the European Patent Office, documents may be filed by delivery by hand, by postal services or by means of electronic communication. The President of the European Patent Office shall lay down the details and conditions and, where appropriate, any special formal or technical requirements for the filing of documents. In particular, he may specify that confirmation must be supplied. If such confirmation is not supplied in due time, the European patent application shall be refused; documents filed subsequently shall be deemed not to have been received."
Rule 124(3) shall read as follows:
(EPO雇員藉由簽名或是其他方式驗證口頭審理與取證的記錄)
"(3) The minutes shall be authenticated by the employee responsible for drawing them up and by the employee who conducted the oral proceedings or taking of evidence, either by their signature or by any other appropriate means."
Rule 125(1) and (2)(a) and (b) shall read as follows:
(EPO發出的通知或決定有時間限制,並符合規定,通知應採用原始文件,如果是副本應受到驗證或密封)
"(1) The European Patent Office shall, as a matter of course, notify those concerned of decisions and summonses, and of any notice or other communication from which a time limit is reckoned, or of which those concerned must be notified under the Convention, or of which notification has been ordered by the President of the European Patent Office. Any notification to be made shall take the form of the original document, a copy thereof certified by or bearing the seal of the European Patent Office, a computer print-out bearing such seal or an electronic document containing such seal or otherwise certified. Copies of documents emanating from the parties themselves shall not require such certification.
(2) Notification shall be made:
(a) by postal services in accordance with Rule 126;
(b) by means of electronic communication in accordance with Rule 127;"
Rule 126 shall read as follows:
(本條為採用郵政服務(一般郵寄)遞送文件的規定。有關訴願或請願決定遞送都應以掛號郵寄;郵政服務提供者有義務確認送達給收件者;若以掛號郵寄通知都視為完成遞送)
Notification by postal services
(1) Decisions incurring a period for appeal or a petition for review, summonses and other such documents as determined by the President of the European Patent Office shall be notified by registered letter with advice of delivery or equivalent. All other notifications by postal services shall be by registered letter.
(2) Where notification is effected in accordance with paragraph 1, the letter shall be deemed to be delivered to the addressee on the tenth day following its handover to the postal service provider, unless it has failed to reach the addressee or has reached him at a later date; in the event of any dispute, it shall be incumbent on the European Patent Office to establish that the letter has reached its destination or to establish the date on which the letter was delivered to the addressee, as the case may be.
(3) Notification in accordance with paragraph 1 shall be deemed to have been effected even if acceptance of the letter has been refused.
(4) To the extent that notification by postal services is not covered by paragraphs 1 to 3, the law of the State in which the notification is made shall apply."
Rule 127 shall read as follows:
(本條規定電子通訊遞送方法,細目都為新增。以電子文件遞送時,除非有誤,否則在第十天後若無錯誤,視為完成遞送;EPO負有遞送完成義務)
Notification by means of electronic communication
(1) Notification may be effected by means of electronic communication as determined by the President of the European Patent Office and under the conditions laid down by him.
(2) Where notification is effected by means of electronic communication, the electronic document shall be deemed to be delivered to the addressee on the tenth day following its transmission, unless it has failed to reach its destination or has reached its destination at a later date; in the event of any dispute, it shall be incumbent on the European Patent Office to establish that the electronic document has reached its destination or to establish the date on which it reached its destination, as the case may be." 
The German version of Rule 129(1) shall read as follows:
(德國要求以一般郵寄應有二次遞送)
"(1) Kann die Anschrift des Empfängers nicht festgestellt werden oder war die Zustellung nach Regel 126 Absatz 1 auch nach einem zweiten Versuch unmöglich, so wird durch öffentliche Bekanntmachung zugestellt."
Rule 133(1) shall read as follows:
(如果以經過認證的郵寄服務遞送文件到EPO,即便遲到,仍應視為在期限內交付,除非遲到超過三個月)
"(1) A document received late at the European Patent Office shall be deemed to have been received in due time if it was delivered to a recognised postal service provider in due time before expiry of the period in accordance with the conditions laid down by the President of the European Patent Office, unless the document was received later than three months after expiry of the period."
Rule 134(1) shall read as follows:
(如果過期日遇到EPO假日,延到下次上班日)
"(1) If a period expires on a day on which one of the filing offices of the European Patent Office under Rule 35, paragraph 1, is not open for receipt of documents or on which, for reasons other than those referred to in paragraph 2, mail is not delivered there, the period shall extend to the first day thereafter on which all the filing offices are open for receipt of documents and on which mail is delivered. The first sentence shall apply mutatis mutandis if documents filed by one of the means of electronic communication permitted by the President of the European Patent Office under Rule 2, paragraph 1, cannot be received."
Rule 134(5) shall read as follows:
(如果遭遇自然災害、戰爭、暴動、電子通訊斷訊等問題,提出合理證據仍可視為即時送達)
"(5) Without prejudice to paragraphs 1 to 4, a party concerned may produce evidence that on any of the ten days preceding the day of expiry of a period the delivery or transmission of mail was dislocated due to an exceptional occurrence such as a natural disaster, war, civil disorder, a general breakdown in any of the means of electronic communication permitted by the President of the European Patent Office under Rule 2, paragraph 1, or other like reasons affecting the locality where the party or his representative resides or has his place of business. If the evidence produced satisfies the European Patent Office, a document received late shall be deemed to have been received in due time, provided that the mailing or the transmission was effected at the latest on the fifth day after the end of the dislocation."

資訊來源:
http://www.epo.org/law-practice/legal-texts/official-journal/ac-decisions/archive/20150212.html

Ron

沒有留言: