http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2020/03/breaking-epo-and-euipo-extend-all.html
The EPO and EUIPO have announced that, in response to the disruption caused by COVID-19, deadlines at the offices will be extended.
The EPO announced that all deadlines are extended until
17 April 2020. The announcement takes the form of a Notice in the Official Journal which can be read in full
here.
Rule 134(2) EPC provides that if a deadline expires on “a day on which there is a general dislocation in the delivery or transmission of mail in a Contracting State, the period shall extend to the first day following the end of the internal of dislocation for parties which are resident in the State”. If the State is one in which the EPO is located, the provision applies to all parties and their representatives.
The EPO Notice acknowledges that Germany “is experiencing restrictions on the movement and circulation of persons as well as certain services, exchanges and public life in general, which can be qualified as general dislocation within the meaning of Rule 134(2) EPC”. Therefore, “periods expiring on or after the date of the publication of this notice are thus extended for all parties and their representatives to 17 April 2020”. The extension also applies to PCT applications handled by the EPO (Article 150(2) EPC).
The EPO notice therefore applies to all deadlines at the EPO (including those for international applications) falling due before 17 April 2020.
The EUIPO has taken a similar measure. The Executive Direct of the EUIPO announced today that they would be “extending all time limits expiring between 9 March and 30 April, that affect all parties before the Office to
1 May 2020”. The full decision of the EUIPO can be read
here.
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