Form EP3002 – EP Appeal procedure

Form EP3002 is used for filing a notice of appeal. An appeal lies from decisions of the Receiving Section, the examining divisions, the opposition divisions and the Legal Division of the EPO.

XML files for an EP3002 application

The following two XML files are required for an EP3002 application to be imported. Note that unlike in EP1001 and EP1200, there is no application-body.xml.

File name	DTD	Description
package-data.xml	package-data.dtd	References attached documents including ep-boa-request.xml file.
ep-boa-request.xml	ep-boa-request-v1-0.dtd	Application data as entered in Form EP3002, references attached documents.

The XML structure of package-data.xml is the same as for EP1001 applications - see section: Form EP1001 - References from XML files to other files

More information on the XML structure of the ep-boa-request.xml file can be found below and in subsequent sections in this chapter.

Basic structure of ep-boa-request.xml

The ep-boa-request.xml file contains the application data in Form EP3002. Its root element is <ep-boa-request>, which contains the following attributes:

XML Attribute	Attribute Description	Example/fixed value
dtd-version	Version of DTD used.	Fixed value: "1.0"
ro	Code for the filing office. For EP3002 filings in OLF2.0, this will always be “EP” for EPO.	Fixed value: “EP”.
produced-by		Fixed value: “applicant”
ep-procedural-phase	Indicates the procedural phase of the application. For EP3002, this will always be “Appeal”.	Fixed value: “Appeal”
capacity	Capacity in which the filing party is submitting the form.	Fixed value: “Appeal”
lang	Procedural language for the application, indicated by its 2-letter language code (en, fr, de).	Fixed value: “en”
date-produced	Date/time of package generation in “YYYYMMDD hh:mm:ss” format.	E.g.: "20240122 11:19:17"

The table below lists the top-level XML elements under <ep-boa-request> and their key attributes:

XML Element	Description and attributes
`<invention-title>`	Title of the invention in a given EPO language. A EP3002 request may contain up to 3 `<invention-title>` elements corresponding to each main EPO language (en, fr, de). Note that these elements are optional and not present in the generated PDF document. Attributes: lang: Language code (2-letters) of the provided invention title (en, fr, de).
`<file-reference-id>`	User's file reference. This is the internal ID name for the 3002 submission, as it will appear on the OLF2.0 GUI for edition/review. Can be any name chosen by the user with the following limitations: Up to 25 characters long. No blank spaces. E.g.: `<file-reference-id>`My_3002_request`</file-reference-id>`
`<publication-reference>` `<application-reference>`	Basic application/patent information for the EP3002 submission, including the corresponding EP application no. and date of grant. See EP3002 – General information for details.
`<appeal-case-number>`	Contains the number of the existing appeal case related to the submission (if it exists). E.g.: T0498/14-3507 If there is no case no. to refer, the element must be present with an empty template as value. I.e.: “_/-__” See EP3002 – General information for details.
`<impugned-decision>`	Impugned decision (Rule 99(1)b) EPC).
`<ep-submission-requests>`	This section contains a set of child elements holding the information about the requests included in the submission (e.g., request for oral proceedings). E.g.: `<ep-submission-requests>` `<notice-of-appeal>`test`</notice-of-appeal>` `<ep-submission-requests>` `<ep-submission-request request-type="oral-proceedings"/>` `<ep-submission-request-comment>` `<p num="0001">`test`</p>` `</ep-submission-request-comment>` `</ep-submission-requests>` `</ep-submission-requests>` Please see the following sections for details and additional example cases: EP3002 – General information EP3002 – Requests
`<ep-boa-evidence>`	The `<ep-boa-request>` element will contain one or more `<ep-boa-evidence>` elements, holding information about each of the attached evidence documents enclosed with the EP3002 submission. Please see EP3002 – Documents for details and example cases.
`<check-list>`	Contains a list of children nodes corresponding to the type of document (request, description, claims, other…) . E.g.: `<cl-other-document>` Each of the aforementioned child elements indicates numeric values related to each of the documents referred to in the submission, such as the total count of pages on it, no. of the first and last pages, etc. Note that this section should always contain, at least, a single empty child element `<cl-request/>` E.g.: `<check-list>` `<cl-request/>` `<cl-other-document>`Other document`</cl-other-document>` `</check-list>` Please see EP3002 – Documents for more details and example cases.
`<office-specific-data>`	EP3002 request data specific to the filing office (declarations, fees…). Attributes: office: Filing office to which the specific data in the element applies. For EP3002 filed to EPO, this should have a fixed value of “EP”. This element will contain the applicable requests, information about the attached documents, the information regarding fees, and (optionally) any enclosed annotations to EPO. Please see the following subchapters for details and example cases: EP3002 – Requests EP3002 – Documents EP3002 – Fees EP3002 – Annotations
`<parties>`	List of parties involved in the application (applicants, proprietors, representatives…). This element has no text value nor attributes, and instead contains a set of children elements. Please see EP3002 – Parties for details and example cases.

Below is an example showing the general structure in ep-boa-request.xml and the top-level elements listed in the previous table:

<?xml version="1.1" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE ep-boa-request
SYSTEM "ep-boa-request-v1-0.dtd">
<ep-boa-request dtd-version="1.0"
  ro="EP"
  produced-by="applicant"
  ep-procedural-phase="Appeal"
  lang="en"
  date-produced="">
  <file-reference-id>3002_Example</file-reference-id>
  <publication-reference>
    <document-id lang="en">
      <country>EP</country>
      <doc-number>EP3062148</doc-number>
      <kind/>
      <name/>
      <date/ >
    </document-id>
  </publication-reference>
  <application-reference>
    <document-id lang="en">
      <country>EP</country>
      <doc-number>EP16155428.2</doc-number>
      <kind/>
      <name/>
      <date>20231101</date>
    </document-id>
  </application-reference>
  <appeal-case-number>_____/__-_._.__<appeal-case-number>
  <impugned-decision>test</impugned-decision>
  <ep-submission-requests>
    …
  </ep-submission-requests>
  <ep-boa-evidence party-reference="a">
    …
  </ep-boa-evidence>
  <check-list>
    <cl-request/>
    <cl-other-document>Advice of delivery</cl-other-document>
  </check-list>
  <office-specific-data office="EP">
    …
  </office-specific-data>
  <parties>
    …
  </parties>
</ep-boa-request>

The details for the child elements of <ep-boa-request>, their relevant attributes and how they are mapped to the different form fields and tabs (e.g., the list of involved parties and their contact information in the <parties> element, filled out via the Parties tab in the EP3002 form) will be described in subsequent section in this form’s chapter.

Document codes and file types for EP3002

The receiving server at the EPO requires the values listed in the table below for importing the application (leading document) and the attachments for an EP Appeals procedure. In the package-data.xml file:

Document code to be filled into <document-name> child-element of <other-doc> element
EPO file name for file attribute of <other-doc> element In the ep-boa-request.xml file:
Document code for doc-type attribute of <ep-electronic-files> element
EPO file name to be filled into <epo-file-name> element

ℹ️ Note

Non-public documents cannot be attached to Form EP3002. These must be submitted subsequently via EP 1038 for the Appeals proceeding instead.

Document code	EPO file name *)	Description
PACKDATAXML	package-data.xml	Receipt in XML format
RECXML	ep-boa-request.xml	XML file of data elements
Leading Document
3002E	Form3002E.pdf	Notice of appeal request

Evidence

PATENT	Published-Evidence-1.pdf	Patent document
ARTICLE	Published-Evidence-1.pdf	Non-patent literature – article
BOOK	Published-Evidence-1.pdf	Non-patent literature – book
DATABASE	Published-Evidence-1.pdf	Non-patent literature – database
INTERNET	Published-Evidence-1.pdf	Non-patent literature – internet
MODEL	Model-Reference-1.pdf	Cover letter for a non-scannable object
AFFIDAVIT	Affidavit-1.pdf	Affidavit
IMAGE	evidence-image-1.pdf	Image or photo (PDF)
EVDNCE_TRAN	Evidence-Tran-1.pdf	Translation of a citation
EVDNCE_OTHER	Other-evidence-1.pdf	Other evidence

Document code	EPO file name *)	Description
3936	ADVOFDELIVRY-1.pdf	Advice of delivery
APPEAL-ANNEX	APPEAL-ANNEX-1	Annexes regarding appeal proceedings
APPEAL-CDOC	APPEAL-CDOC-1	Cited documents during appeal procedure
APPEAL-CNPL	APPEAL-CNPL-1	Non-patent literature cited during the appeal procedure
APPEAL-CP	APPEAL-CP-1	Patent document cited during the appeal procedure
APPEAL-GRDS	APPEAL-GRDS-1	Statement of grounds of appeal
APPEAL-LETT	APPEAL-LETT-1	Letter relating to appeal procedure
APPEAL-ORAL	APPEAL-ORAL-1	Letter dealing with oral proceedings during the appeal procedure
APPEALG-LETT	APPEALG-LETT-1	Letter in referral procedure
APPEALR-ANX	APPEALR-ANX-1	Annexes regarding review procedure
APPEALR-LETT	APPEALR-LETT-1	Letter relating to the review procedure
APPEALWDRA	APPEALWDRA	Withdrawal of an appeal
BOA-INTERVEN	BOA-INTERVEN-1	Intervention of the assumed infringer
BOAOTHER	BOAOTHER-1	Other document
CDAPPR-CHOA	CDAPPR-CHOA-1	Request for change of address
CDAPPR-CHON	CDAPPR-CHON-1	Request for change of name
CDAPPR-CHOR	CDAPPR-CHOR-1	Request for change of representative
CDAPPR-TOR	CDAPPR-TOR-1	Request for transfer of rights
CLMS	CLMS-1	Claims
CLMS-HWA	CLMS-HWA-1	Amended claims with annotations
DESC-HWA	DESC-HWA-1	Amended description with annotations
DRAW	DRAW-1	Drawings
DRAW-HWA	DRAW-HWA-1	Amended drawings with annotations
DRAWNEW	DRAWNEW-1	Missing parts of the drawings
DRAWPAMD	DRAW-1	Amended drawings (clean copy)
DRAWTRAN	DRAWTRAN-1	Translation of text in drawings
FREP	FREP-1	Document concerning representation
INTERP	INTERP-1	Request for interpreters during the oral proceedings
OPPOWDRA	OPPOWDRA-1	Withdrawal of an opposition
ORALWDRA	ORALWDRA-1	Withdrawal of request for oral proceedings
RAAP	RAAP-1	Request for acceleration of the appeal proceedings
REES	REES-1	Request for re-establishment of rights/restitutio in integrum
REQDATOP	REQDATOP-1	Oral proceedings: Request for postponement
RFPR	RFPR-1	Request for further processing
SUSI	SUSI-1	Request for suspension/interruption of procedure
WDRA	WDRA-1	Withdrawal of application

Document code	EPO file name *)	Description
RECPDF	receipt.pdf	(Electronic) Receipt

EP3002 – General information

The basic data on the application/patent for which an appeal is being filed in the General information tab. It is structured in the following top-level elements under <ep-boa-request> in ep-boa-request.xml:

The invention title may be provided (optional) in up to three languages using <invention-title> elements. E.g.:

<invention-title lang="en">INSTANT WATER</invention-title>
<invention-title lang="fr">EAU INSTANTANÉE</invention-title>
<invention-title lang="de">INSTANT-WASSER</invention-title>

The user’s file reference is imported from the <file-reference-id> element. E.g.:

<file-reference-id>3002_Example</file-reference-id>

The referred patent and application’s information is imported from the contents of XML elements <publication-reference> and <application-reference> (respectively). Each of these sections consists of a single <document-id> XML element containing a single attribute lang indicating the application’s procedural language with a 2-letter code (i.e., “en”, “de”, “fr”) and the following set of sub-elements:
- <country>: Country/region code of the application/patent. For EP3002 filings, this should always be “EP”.
- <doc-number>: ID number of the referred EP patent/application.

Additional sub-elements may be present (i.e., <kind> , <name> and <date>), although their values are not required for EP3002 submissions and thus can be left empty (since their values will be ignored).

Example:

<publication-reference>
  <document-id lang="en">
    <country>EP</country>
    <doc-number>EP3062148</doc-number>
    <kind/>
    <name/>
    <date/>
  </document-id>
</publication-reference>
<application-reference>
  <document-id lang="en">
    <country>EP</country>
    <doc-number>EP16155428.2</doc-number>
  </document-id>
</application-reference>

The no. of an existing appeal case (if applicable) may be cited in an <appeal-case-number> XML element. E.g.:

<appeal-case-number>l1234/56-7.8.90</appeal-case-number>

ℹ️ Note

Note that the presence of the element is mandatory. However, if no appeal case no. is to be provided, the element should not be left empty but rather contain an empty template for an appeal case number. E.g.: <appeal-case-number>/-._.<appeal-case-number>

A description of the impugned decision (Rule 99(1)b) EPC) must be provided in an <appeal-case-number> XML element as free text.

Below is a basic example showing the elements listed above populated with the data filled out in the General information tab for an EP3002 form:

<?xml version="1.1" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE ep-boa-request
SYSTEM "ep-boa-request-v1-0.dtd">
<ep-boa-request dtd-version="1.0"
  ro="EP"
  produced-by="applicant"
  ep-procedural-phase="Appeal"
  lang="en"
  date-produced="">
  <file-reference-id>3002 Example</file-reference-id>
  <publication-reference>
    <document-id lang="en">
      <country>EP</country>
      <doc-number>EP3062148</doc-number>
      <kind/>
      <name/>
      <date/ >
    </document-id>
  </publication-reference>
  <application-reference>
    <document-id lang="en">
      <country>EP</country>
      <doc-number>EP16155428.2</doc-number>
      <kind/>
      <name/>
      <date>20231101</date>
    </document-id>
  </application-reference>
  <appeal-case-number>l1234/56-7.8.90</appeal-case-number>
  <impugned-decision>test</impugned-decision>
  …
</ep-boa-request>

EP3002 – Parties

The Parties tab of Form EP3002 accommodates all data for names, persons and addresses relating to the submission:

Applicants
Proprietors
Opponents
Interveners
Third parties
Representatives

ℹ️ Note

An EP3002 form submission must identify at least one appellant of any of the above party types. Note however that some of them (e.g., applicants and opponents) are mutually exclusive.

The <parties> element can contain <applicants> and <agents> elements structured as follows:

<applicants> may contain one or more <ep-applicant> element, referring one of the following party types indicated by the value of the element’s app-type attribute:
- Applicant (app-type=”applicant”)
- Proprietor (app-type=”proprietor”)
- Third party (app-type=”third-party”)
- Opponent (app-type=”opponent”)
- Intervener (app-type=”intervener”)
<agents> may contain one or more <ep-agent> element for the representatives (if referenced).

The required attributes for each individual <ep-applicant> and <ep-agent> element are mostly specific to the type of party, as listed in the table below:

XML Element	XML Attribute	Attribute Description	Example/fixed value
`<ep-applicant>`	sequence	Order no. of the `<ep-applicant>` entry of the corresponding role (app-type). Always required.	E.g.: “1” for 1st proprietor, “2” for 2nd proprietor, etc.
`<ep-applicant>`	designation	Fixed value indicating that designated states are as indicated in the submission. Always required.	Fixed value: "as-indicated"
`<ep-applicant>`	app-type	Indicates the specific type of party the `<applicant>` element refers to.	Value must be one of the following: “applicant” “proprietor” “third-party” “opponent” “intervener”
`<ep-agent>`	sequence	Order no. of the representative in the list of representatives. Always required.	E.g.: “1” for 1st representative
`<ep-agent>`	rep-type	Always required. Indicates sub-type of representative as follows: “common-representative”: association. “agent”: individual. “attorney”: legal practicioner.	E.g.: “common-representative”
`<ep-agent>`	ep-association-number	If rep-type=“common-representative” (association), this attribute is required and must provide its registration no.	E.g.: “125”

Each <ep-applicant> element should contain:

A single <addressbook> sub-element with the name and address details. This element should always be present (required).
If a specific country of nationality is to be specified, a <nationality> sub-element should also be present. This will contain a single <country> child element with the 2-letter country code (e.g.: “IT” for Italy).
Similarly, if a specific country of residence is to be specified, a <residence> sub-element should also be present, with the same internal structure as the above.
Lastly, if the named <ep-applicant> is to be designated as the appellant for the EP3002 request, an empty element <select-as-appellant/> should appear after the above.

The example below shows the basic structure for the <parties> section in a request that only includes a single applicant designated as the appellant, specifying Italy (IT) as both their nationality and residence country:

<parties>
  <applicants>
    <applicant sequence="1"
      designation="as-indicated"
      app-type="applicant">
      <addressbook lang="en">
        …
      </addressbook>
      <nationality>
        <country>IT</country>
      </nationality>
      <residence>
        <country>IT</country>
      </residence>
      <select-as-appellant/>
    </applicant>
  </applicants>
</parties>

Each <ep-agent> element should contain:

A single <addressbook> sub-element with the name and address details. This element should always be present (required).

The example below shows the basic structure for the <parties> section in a request that only includes a single representative specifying the named of their represented applicant:

<parties>
  <agents>
    <ep-agent sequence="1"
      rep-type="common-representative"
      ep-association-number=”123”>
      <addressbook lang="en">
        …
      </addressbook>
      <applicant-name>Salvatore Manzoni</applicant-name>
    </ep-agent>
  </agents>
</parties>

The <addressbook> element with the name and address detail for each party will have the following single attribute:

lang: 2-letter language code. This must match the procedural language for the attached/referred application. E.g.: <addressbook lang="en">

The structure of the <addressbook> element is specific to the type of party involved (applicant/representative/inventor) and its sub-type (e.g., legal or natural person, for applicants):

Party element	Sub-type(s)	XML Elements in `<addressbook>`
`<ep-applicant>`	Applicant, legal person Proprietor, legal person Third-party, legal person Opponent, legal person Intervener, legal person	`<name name-type="legal">` `<registered-number/>` `<address>` `<address-2>` `<pobox>` `<street>` `<city>` `<state>` `<postcode>` `<country>` `</address>` `<phone>` `<email>`
`<ep-applicant>`	Applicant, natural person Proprietor, natural person Third-party, natural person Opponent, natural person Intervener, natural person	`<last-name>` `<first-name>` `<orgname>` `<department>` `<address>` `<pobox>` `<street>` `<city>` `<state>` `<postcode>` `<country>` `</address>` `<phone>` `<email>`
`<ep-agent>`	Professional representative, association	`<last-name>` (*) `<department>` `<registered-number>` `<address>` `<pobox>` `<street>` `<city>` `<state>` `<postcode>` `<country>` `</address>` `<phone>` `<email>`
`<ep-agent>`	Professional representative, individual Legal practicioner	`<last-name>` `<first-name>` `<orgname>` `<department>` `<address>` `<pobox>` `<street>` `<city>` `<state>` `<postcode>` `<country>` `</address>` `<phone>` `<email>`

ℹ️ Note

(*) For representatives of sub-type association (i.e., with attribute rep-type=“common-representative”), the value of the <last-name> element corresponds to the Organisation name of the association acting as representative.

Below is an example showing the general structure of a <parties> element in ep-sfd-request.xml containing two <ep-applicant> entries for a proprietor (natural person) and an opponent (legal person):

<parties>
  <applicants>
    <ep-applicant sequence="1"
      designation="as-indicated"
      app-type="proprietor">
      <addressbook lang="en">
        <last-name>Manzoni</last-name>
        <first-name>Salvatore</first-name>
        <orgname>Borghese S.A.</orgname>
        <department>Invenzioni</department>
        <address>
          <pobox/>
          <street>Via Roma 8 / Piazza del Duomo</street>
          <city>Milano</city>
          <state/>
          <postcode>20100</postcode>
          <country>IT</country>
        </address>
        <phone>+39 2 5056 10</phone>
        <email>[email protected]</email> </addressbook>
        <nationality>
          <country>IT</country>
        </nationality>
        <residence>
          <country>IT</country>
        </residence>
    </ep-applicant>
    <ep-applicant sequence="2"
      designation="as-indicated"
      app-type="opponent">
      <addressbook lang="en">
      <name name-type="legal">Name of opponent</name>
      <address>
        <pobox/>
        <street>Via Roma 8 / Piazza del Duomo</street>
        <city>Milano</city>
        <state/>
        <postcode>20100</postcode>
        <country>IT</country>
      </address>
      <phone>+39 2 5056 10</phone>
      <email>[email protected]</email>
    </addressbook>
    </ep-applicant>
  </applicants>
</parties>

EP3002 – Requests

The options available in the Requests tab of form EP3002 allows users to provide the request defining the subject of the appeal (Notice of appeal) and, optionally, to file for one or more of the following additional requests related to the opposition process in the submission:

Oral proceedings:
- Request for oral proceedings
- Request for interpreting
Declaration relating to payment of the appeal fee:
- Declaration of the appellant being an entity or a natural person under Rule 6(4) and (5) EPC.
Other requests:
- Request for taking of evidence by hearing of a witness
- Request for accelerated processing of opposition
- Other request(s)

The information regarding requests in EP3002 is imported from XML element <ep-submission-requests> in ep-boa-request.xml. The latter should contain:

Required: A single child element <notice-of-appeal>, defining the subject of the appeal (Rule 99(1)(c) EPC) as free text.
Optionally: one or more <ep-submission-request> elements corresponding to each of the admissible request types as described in the table below:

Request type	`<ep-submission-request>` Attributes	`<ep-submission-request>` Child elements
Request for oral proceedings	request-type="oral-proceedings" When requesting an auxiliary oral proceeding as well, the following attribute must also be present: auxiliary-request="yes"	If an auxiliary request is made, the element must contain a `<ep-submission-request-comment>` child element with a `<p>` free text providing the reason for the request. E.g.: `<ep-submission-request-comment>` `<p num="0001">`(Reason text here)`</p>` `</ep-submission-request-comment>`
Request for interpreting	request-type="interpretation-oral-proceedings"	Must contain a `<interpretation-oral-proceedings>` element specifying the language in which the OP will be carried out (listening) and the language to be spoken by the interpreter (speaking). E.g.: `<interpretation-oral-proceedings lang-speaking="fr" lang-listening="en"/>` Optionally, it may also contain a `<lang-understood>` child element listing the languages understood by the requester. E.g.: `<lang-understood>` `<country>`de`</country>` `<country>`fr`</country>` `</lang-understood>`
Declaration of the appellant as entity or natural person under Rule 6(4) and (5) EPC.	request-type="further-declarations"	N/A
Request for taking of evidence by hearing of a witness	request-type="hearing-of-witness"	N/A
Request for acceleration of the appeals proceedings (Article 10(3) RPBA)	request-type="acceleration-proceedings"	Must contain a `<ep-submission-request-comment>` element with a `<p>` free text providing the reason for the request for accelerated processing. E.g.: `<ep-submission-request-comment>` `<p num="0001">`Pending infringement proceedings in a national court.`</p>` `</ep-submission-request-comment>`
Other request(s)	request-type="other"	Must contain a `<ep-submission-request-comment>` element with a `<p>` free text providing the request being made. E.g.: `<ep-submission-request-comment>` `<p num="0001">`We request access for file inspection.`</p>` `</ep-submission-request-comment>`

The following snippet shows a basic example of element <ep-submission-requests>, corresponding to an EP3002 submission that includes an individual request per each of the 5 request types previously listed:

<ep-submission-requests>
  <notice-of-appeal>(text defining the subject of the appeal)</notice-of-appeal>
  <ep-submission-request request-type="oral-proceedings" auxiliary-request="yes"/>
  <ep-submission-request request-type="interpretation-oral-proceedings">
    <interpretation-oral-proceedings lang-speaking="fr" lang-listening="en"/>
    <lang-understood>
      <country>de</country>
      <country>fr</country>
    </lang-understood>
  </ep-submission-request>
  <ep-submission-request request-type="hearing-of-witness"/>
  <ep-submission-request request-type="acceleration-proceedings">
    <ep-submission-request-comment>
      <p num="0001">Reason for accelerated processing</p>
    </ep-submission-request-comment>
  </ep-submission-request>
  <ep-submission-request request-type="other">
    <ep-submission-request-comment>
      <p num="0001">Other request</p>
    </ep-submission-request-comment>
  </ep-submission-request>
</ep-submission-requests>

EP3002 – Documents

Various documents may be attached to the EP3002 form in the Documents tab. See the complete list in chapter: Document codes and file types for EP3002

Please note that certain documents may not be attached at the same time (i.e., they are mutually exclusive). In general, only PDF documents are allowed.

Documents for EP3002 submissions are grouped into the following two main categories (as presented in the Documents tab on the OLF2.0 GUI):

Evidences: refers to published articles/books/etc. that are cited as evidences supporting the request of appeal.
Other documents: refers to any other attached documents that are not supplied as evidences.

In addition to the PDF/XML documents for the EP3002 request itself (3002E and REQXML), an <other-doc> entry must be included in section <other-documents> in package-data.xml for each individually attached document, as explained in 5.1.1 References from XML files to other files. See the example snippet below from an package-data.xml file corresponding to a EP3002 submission including the mandatory facts and arguments document (of category “Other documents”) and multiple “Evidence” documents: affidavit, published patent and published article:

<other-documents>
  <other-doc file="Form3002E.pdf" file-type="pdf">
    <document-name>3002E</document-name>
    <dtext/>
  </other-doc>
  <other-doc file="ep-boa-request.xml" file-type="xml">
    <document-name>REQXML</document-name>
    <dtext/>
  </other-doc>
  <other-doc file="Affidavit-1.pdf" file-type="pdf">
    <document-name>AFFIDAVIT</document-name>
    <dtext/>
  </other-doc>
  <other-doc file="Published-Evidence-Patent-1.pdf" file-type="pdf">
    <document-name>PATENT</document-name>
    <dtext/>
  </other-doc>
  <other-doc file="Published-Evidence-Article-1.pdf" file-type="pdf">
    <document-name>ARTICLE</document-name>
    <dtext/>
  </other-doc>
</other-documents>

Evidences

Details for each attached evidence document must be provided through a <ep-boa-evidence> element in ep-boa-request.xml.

ℹ️ Note

The internal structure of <ep-boa-evidence> is very similar to that of element <ep-opposition-evidence> in file ep-opposition-data.xml. Please refer to section EP(2003) – Documents in this guide for additional examples.

The internal structure of element <ep-boa-evidence> will be different depending on the type of evidence provided, as described below.

Published evidences:

Article
Book extract
Database
Internet publication
Patent

It is important to provide accurate data for the evidences, following the system also used for scientific bibliographies. The number of evidences is unlimited. Each evidence, <patcit> for patent literature or <nplcit> for non-patent literature, is enclosed in an <ep-boa-evidence> element and is numbered consecutively.

The details for evidence documents corresponding to any of the types listed above must be provided in a child element <nplcit> inside <ep-boa-evidence>, with the exception of “Patent”, which uses a <patcit> child element instead. Both the <nplcit> and <patcit> elements must include the following XML attributes:

num: attribute with blank value “” (unused).
file: indicates the EPO standard file name corresponding to the attached document’s type (see the table below).

The table below describes the structure of the <ep-boa-evidence> element for each type of published evidence document that can be attached in a EP3002 submission. Note that elements highlighted in yellow represent required fields that must always contain a value:

Evidence type	EPO file name (*)	`<ep-opposition-evidence>` XML Structure Example
Article	Published-Evidence-Article-1.pdf	`<nplcit num="" file="Published-Evidence-Article-1.pdf">` `<article>` `<author>` `<last-name>`Smith`</last-name>` `<first-name>`John`</first-name>` `</author>` `<atl/>` `<serial>` `<sertitle>`Name of periodical/magazine/journal`</sertitle>` `<pubdate>`20220315`</pubdate>` (***) `<vid>`Volume number`</vid>` `<issn>`ISBN 978-0-545-01022-1`</issn>` `</serial>` `<artid>`Article number`</artid>` `</article>` `<rel-passage>` `<text/>`Passage of particular relevance (page, column, line, fig.)`</text>` `</rel-passage>` `<etal>`Other related info`</etal>` `</nplcit>`
Book extract	Published-Evidence-Book-1.pdf	`<nplcit num="" file="Published-Evidence-Book-1.pdf">` `<book>` `<author>` () `</author>` `<book-title>`Evidence Book Title`</book-title>` `<edition/>` `<imprint>` `<address>` `<text>` Place of publication`</text>` `</address>` `<name>`Publisher name`</name>` `<pubdate>`20220315`</pubdate>` (*) `</imprint>` `<isbn>`ISBN 978-0-545-01022-1`</isbn>` `</book>` `<rel-passage>` `<text/>`Passage of particular relevance (page, column, line, fig.)`</text>` `</rel-passage>` `<etal>`Other related info`</etal>` `</nplcit>`
Database	Published-Evidence-Database-1.pdf	`<nplcit num="" file="Published-Evidence-Database-1.pdf">` `<online>` `<author>` (**) `</author>` `<online-title>`Title of database`</online-title>` `<hosttitle>`Host/database name`</hosttitle>` `<pubdate>`20220315`</pubdate>` `<hostno>`Host/DB accession number`</hostno>` `<absno>`Abst/Accession No.`</absno>` `<avail/>`Owner/service/URL`</avail>` `<srchdate>` `<date/>`20201012`</date>` `</srchdate>` `</online>` `</nplcit>`
Internet publication	Published-Evidence-Internet-1.pdf	`<nplcit num="" file="Published-Evidence-Internet-1.pdf">` `<online>` `<author>` `<last-name>`Smith`</last-name>` `<first-name>`John`</first-name>` `</author>` `<online-title>`Publication Title`</online-title>` `<pubdate>`20220315`</pubdate>` `<avail>`https://url-of-publication.com`</avail>` `<datecit>` `<date>`20220315`</date>` `</datecit>` `</online>` `<rel-passage>` `<text>`Passage of particular relevance (page, column, line, fig.)`</text>` `</rel-passage>` `<etal>`Other related info`</etal>` `</nplcit>`
Patent	Published-Evidence-Patent-1.pdf	`<patcit num="" file="Published-Evidence-Patent-1.pdf">` `<document-id lang="en">` `<country>`EP`</country>` `<doc-number>`EP20202020.2`</doc-number>` `<kind>`A`</kind>` `<date>`20220315`</date>` `</document-id>` `<rel-passage>` `<text>`Passage of particular relevance (page, column, line, fig.)`</text>` `</rel-passage>` `<author>` `<company>`Company/Organisation`</company>` `<last-name>`Smith`</last-name>` `<first-name>`John`</first-name>` `<title>`Title/Alias`</title>` `<etal>`Other related info `</etal>` `</author>` `</patcit>`

(*) If there is more than one file of this type of document, the character 1 in the file names must be replaced by 2, 3 etc.

(**) The element <author>, corresponding to the name of the author of the publication, can refer to either a legal person (i.e., company name) or a natural person’s first and last name, which must be indicated as shown in the examples below:

Author as company name	Author as natural person
`<author>` `<orgname>`Company Inc.`</orgname>` `</author>`	`<author>` `<last-name>`Smith`</last-name>` `<first-name>`John`</first-name>` `</author>`

(***) In the case of books and articles, the element <pubdate>, corresponding to the publication date of a published evidence (e.g., book), can be supplied as a full date in YYYYmmDD format (e.g.: 20220315), a year and a month (YYYYmm, e.g.: 202401) or just a year (YYYY, e.g.: 2024).

Other evidence files:

The options for attaching files under Evidence - other are the same for all categories of persons and communication:

Affidavit
Image or photo (PDF)
Model reference
Other evidence
Translation of evidence

For any of the above, an <boa-evidence-other-file> child element should appear inside the corresponding <ep-boa-evidence> element. The aforementioned must include a single <doc-page> XML element with the following attributes:

file: indicates the EPO standard file name corresponding to the attached document’s type (see the table below).
wi: attribute with blank value “” (unused).
he: attribute with blank value “” (unused).
Type: type of attached file (should always be “pdf”).

The example below illustrates the structure of an <ep-boa-evidence> element in ep-boa-request.xml referencing an attached affidavit evidence document:

<ep-boa-evidence party-reference="A01">
  <boa-evidence-other-file>
    <doc-page file="Affidavit-1.pdf" wi="" he="" type="pdf"/>
  </boa-evidence-other-file>
</ep-boa-evidence>

XML Element	Description, attributes and sub-elements
`<applicant-file-name>`	Name of the file as originally uploaded by the applicant during the submission in OLF2.0. E.g.: `<applicant-file-name>`facts_document.pdf`</applicant-file-name>`
`<epo-file-name>`	Standard EPO file name corresponding to the type of provided document (please see section Document codes and file types for EP3002 for a full list). E.g.: `<epo-file-name>`FACTS_ARGMTS.pdf`</epo-file-name>`

XML Element	Document type	Value and/or Attributes
`<cl-request>`	EP3002 request.	This element should always be empty.
`<cl-other-document>`	Any other filed document.	No attributes. Value should be the full name of the provided document. E.g.: “Translation of the patent”

EP3002 – Fees

The Fees tab in Form EP3002 allows applicants to enter payment details for fees charged by the EPO. The fee selection is set automatically by the OLF2.0 application; users can also select additional fees manually.

ℹ️ Note

You can retrieve the most recent fee schedule from the EPO website under interactive schedule of fees (https://my.epoline.org/epoline-portal/classic/epoline.Scheduleoffees).

The global information about fee payment is imported from imported from section <ep-financial-data> inside <office-specific-data>. This root <ep-financial-data> element must contain the following attributes:

curr: currency for fee payment. This is always “EUR” by default.

The root <ep-financial-data> XML element should be followed by the following child elements:

XML Element	Description, attributes and sub-elements
`<mode-of-payment>`	Element containing the details of the chosen mode of fee payment. Please refer to section EP1200 – Fees / Payment details for more details and examples.
`<reimbursement>`	(only present when providing refund instructions) Element with a single attribute accno, containing the date of fee schedule validity (in yyyyMMdd format), and the full name of the account holder as value. E.g.: `<reimbursement accno="28123456">`John Smith`</reimbursement>`
`<sr-refund>`	(only when providing refund instructions) when requesting refund of search fee ((Article 9(2) RFees)), this element should be present and contain the application number to which the search report corresponds. E.g.: `<sr-refund>`John Smith`</sr-refund>`
`<add-copies>`	(only when providing refund instructions) element indicating the no. of additional copies of the documents cited in the EP search report.
`<fees>`	This section must be always present. The `<fees>` element must include a single attribute date, containing the date of fee schedule validity (in yyyyMMdd format) plus the following sub-elements: `<standard-fee>`: contains a set of `<fee>` elements, each one indicating the details of one of the applicable standard fees for EP3002. This section must be always present. Please refer to section EP3002 - Fees / Standard fees for details. `<fee-total-amount>`: element containing a numeric value indicating the total amount to be paid for all selected fees and in the selected currency. E.g.: `<fee-total-amount>`2842.5`</fee-total-amount>`

Below is a basic example showing the general structure of element <ep-financial-data> in ep-boa-request.xml and the top-level sub-elements in it:

<ep-boa-request dtd-version="1.0"
  ro="EP"
  produced-by="applicant"
  ep-procedural-phase="Appeal"
  lang="en"
  date-produced="">
  …
  <office-specific-data office="EP">
    <ep-electronic-files doc-type="3936">
      …
    </ep-electronic-files>
    …
    <ep-financial-data curr="EUR" fee-amounts-unlocked-by-user="no">
      <mode-of-payment accno="28555555"
        mode-type="deposit"
        currency="EUR"
        deferred-execution-date="20231130">Account holder</mode-of-payment>
      <fees date="20231114">
        <standard-fee>
          <fee index="11e" topay="yes">
            <type-of-fee>standard</type-of-fee>
            <fee-factor>1</fee-factor>
            <fee-schedule>2015.00</fee-schedule>
            <fee-sub-amount>2015.00</fee-sub-amount>
            <fee-reduction-factor/>
          </fee>
          …
        </standard-fee>
        <fee-total-amount>2015.00</fee-total-amount>
      </fees>
    </ep-financial-data>
  </office-specific-data>
  <parties>
    …
  </parties>
</ep-boa-request>

Payment details

Information regarding the payment details is imported from the <mode-of-payment> XML element under <ep-financial-data> in ep-boa-request.xml. This element must contain the following attributes:

accno: when using mode-type “auto” or “deposit” (see below), this must be set to the number of EPO deposit account to be used. E.g.: "28123456"
mode-type: selected mode of payment. Can be one of the following values depending on the chosen option:
- “auto”: Automatic debit order.
- “deposit”: Debit from deposit account.
- “bank”: Bank transfer.
- “ccard”: Credit card.
currency: currency for fee payment. This is always “EUR” by default.
deferred-execution-date: when requesting a deferred date of payment execution, this attribute must be present and have said date in yyyyMMdd format as value. This attribute can either be set to an empty value or be omitted if the import file should not specify a deferred execution date.

ℹ️ Note

In addition to the applicable attributes described above, the element should also contain the full name of the account/card holder to be used for payment as its value.

Below is a snippet showing the basic structure of element <mode-of-payment>:

…
</ep-electronic-files>
<ep-financial-data curr="EUR">
<mode-of-payment accno="28555555"
  mode-type="deposit"
  currency="EUR"
  deferred-execution-date="20231130">Account holder</mode-of-payment>
<fees date="20231114">
…

Standard fees

Information regarding the applicable EP3002 standard fees is imported from the <standard-fee> XML element under <fees> in ep-boa-request.xml.

ℹ️ Note

Note that, if you intend to pay for any of the specific fees applicable to form EP3002 (or want to be able to select/de-select it from the Fees tab in the GUI at a later point before filing), a <fee> element for it must be present under <standard-fee>. Otherwise, the fee will not be selected for payment, and you will not be able to select it on the draft submission using the GUI.

Each <fee> element must contain the following attributes:

index: index no. of the corresponding applicable fee, as it appears on the Fees tab in OLF2.0. Note that any zeroes on the left should not be included. E.g.: "1" for fee 001, “5e”, for fee 005e, “401”…
topay: yes/no value indicating if the corresponding fee is intended to be paid (“yes”) or not (“no”).

Each <fee> element must contain the following XML child elements:

XML Element	Description, attributes and sub-elements
`<type-of-fee>`	Indicates the type of fee. This should always have the value “standard”. E.g.: `<type-of-fee>`standard`</type-of-fee>`
`<fee-factor>`	Indicates the factor (from 0 to 1, corresponding to a 0-100% percentage) in which the fee will be paid, according to the specified quantity and applicable reduction factor. I.e., this value should be equal to: quantity (i.e., number of fees as indicated in GUI) * `<fee-reduction-factor>` (from 0 to 1) E.g., for a quantity of 2 and a reduction of 30% (0.3), this value should be 1.4. If the fee is not selected for payment (topay=”no”), this element can be empty. Note that, when using element `<fee-reduction-amount>` to apply a fixed reduction (when applicable according to the guidelines), this value should be a negative amount instead of a 0-1 factor. E.g., for a reduction of 100%: `<fee-factor>`-1460`</fee-factor>` `<fee-sub-amount>`1460.00`</fee-sub-amount>` `<fee-reduction-amount>`1460`</fee-reduction-amount>`
`<fee-schedule>`	Indicates the amount to pay for the total quantity of the specified fee, after applying reductions. I.e., this value should be equal to: `<fee-sub-amount>` * quantity (i.e., number of fees as indicated in GUI) * `<fee-reduction-factor>` (from 0 to 1) E.g.: 94.50
`<fee-sub-amount>`	Indicates the base amount for the fee according to the current fee schedule (i.e., not taking reductions into account). E.g.: 135.00 If the fee is not selected for payment (topay=”no”), this element can be empty.
`<fee-reduction-factor>`	Indicates the reduction factor (from 0 to 1, corresponding to a 0-100% percentage) for the fee, when applicable. E.g.: 0.30 This element can be left empty if the fee is not selected for payment (topay=”no”) or for a default value of 0.

ℹ️ Note

The <fee-schedule> element is used for the (calculated) fee amount and the <fee-sub-amount> element contains the fee schedule (for one single fee).

Use the <fee-reduction-factor> element to indicate a fee reduction on a fixed or percentage basis. The default value is 0.

Use the <fee-reduction-amount> element to indicate a fee reduction on an amount basis.

Below is a snippet showing the basic structure of element <standard-fee> that includes a <fee> entry for procedural fee 011e (i.e., Fee for appeal filed by natural person) applicable to form EP3002, with a 30% reduction applied as an example:

<ep-financial-data curr="EUR" fee-amounts-unlocked-by-user="no">
<mode-of-payment accno="28555555"
  mode-type="deposit"
  currency="EUR"
  deferred-execution-date="20231130">Account holder</mode-of-payment>
<fees date="20231114">
  <standard-fee>
  <fee index="11e" topay="yes">
    <type-of-fee>standard</type-of-fee>
    <fee-factor>0.7</fee-factor>
    <fee-schedule>94.50</fee-schedule>
    <fee-sub-amount>135.00</fee-sub-amount>
    <fee-reduction-factor>0.30</fee-reduction-factor>
  </fee>
  …
  <fee-total-amount>2842.5</fee-total-amount>
</fees>

EP3002 – Annotations

At the end of the <office-specific-data> section (right after closure of the <ep-financial-data> section corresponding to fee payment details), one or more <ep-notes-to-EPO> elements can be included in ep-boa-request.xml, each one containing Annotations to send additional information to the EPO. The number of annotations is unlimited.

ℹ️ Note

If no annotations are to be included in the submission (as they are entirely optional), no <ep-notes-to-EPO> elements should be present in the ep-boa-request.xml file.

The root element for each annotation (<ep-notes-to-EPO>) must contain the following attributes:

page: fixed string value “Annotate”.
id: a “note#” string where # is a number representing the order of creation of the current note (i.e.: note1 for the firstly note created, then note2, note3 and so on).

E.g.: <ep-notes-to-EPO page="Annotate" id="note1">

ℹ️ Note

The id “coloured_content_note” is special and refers to an annotation automatically added by OLF2.0 when specifying the coloured content (i.e., which documents are not in black & white) in the attached evidence.

The table below lists the child XML elements that must appear under each <ep-notes-to-EPO> entry:

XML Element	Description and attributes
`<author>`	Full name (first + last name) of the user authoring the annotation.
`<subject>`	Subject of the annotation.
`<date>`	Date in which the annotation was created, in yyyyMMdd format. Note that this value is not shown in the request PDF for EP3002.
`<dtext>`	Text contents of the annotation.

The example below shows how two annotations created by two different users are stored in the ep-boa-request.xml file:

<office-specific-data office="EP" lang="en">
  …
  <ep-notes-to-EPO page="Annotate" id="note1">
    <author>Salvatore Manzoni</author>
    <subject>Account information</subject>
    <date>20130127</date>
    <dtext>Payment details may be changed at a later date.</dtext>
  </ep-notes-to-EPO>
  <ep-notes-to-EPO page="Annotate" id="note2">
    <author>Luigi Manzoni</author>
    <subject>Representation</subject>
    <date>20141027</date>
    <dtext>There will be a new representative for Mr. Manzoni starting Jan 1 2015, who will take over all applications of Salvatore Manzoni and TechInvent S.A. The details and the authorisation will be filed subsequently.</dtext>
  </ep-notes-to-EPO>
</office-specific-data>
<parties>
  …
</parties>
</ep-boa-request>

XML files for an EP3002 application​

Basic structure of ep-boa-request.xml​

Document codes and file types for EP3002​

Evidence​

Other document (not filed as evidence)​

EP3002 – General information​

EP3002 – Parties​

EP3002 – Requests​

EP3002 – Documents​

Evidences​

Other documents​

EP3002 – Fees​

Payment details​

Standard fees​

EP3002 – Annotations​