Third-party public observations in European patent applications

After the publication of a European patent application, any person may submit a third-party public opinion in writing on the published patent application in English, French or German. The opinion must include a statement of the reasons on which it is based and may be submitted anonymously.

• Documentary evidence, in particular publications submitted in support of arguments, may be submitted in any language. However, the EPO may require a translation into one of its official languages to be submitted within a prescribed period, otherwise the evidence will not be considered. Although the EPO will send a confirmation letter to third parties (if these opinions are not submitted anonymously), the EPO will not specifically inform them of any further actions taken in response to these opinions. However, the results of the EPO's evaluation will be briefly stated in the examination opinion and will therefore be available to the public.
• All opinions, including those submitted anonymously, become part of the case file. They are immediately communicated to the applicant or patentee for a response. If these opinions call into question the patentability of the invention in whole or in part, they will be taken into account in the next examination opinion of the examining or opposition division. If these opinions relate to the alleged prior art but are not obtained from the documents, e.g. from use, they will only be taken into account if the applicant or patentee has no objection to the facts alleged or is certain of them.
• The EPO will issue the next examination opinion as soon as possible within 3 months after receiving the third-party public comments (only for non-anonymous third-party public comments)
• If a third-party public opinion is filed during the international phase, the EPO, as the designated Office, will consider its content after entering the national phase. The EPO will issue the next examination opinion as soon as possible, within three months after the expiration of the time limit specified in Article 161, provided that the third party clearly expresses its wish to obtain expedited processing in the EP national phase and the third party submits the application non-anonymously and with solid evidence.