Changes from plenary report to adopted text

AddedArticle 32 Communications to the Office

Added1. Communications addressed to the Office mayshall be effected by electronic means. The Executive Director shall determine to what extent and under which technical conditions those communications mayare to be submitted electronically. [Am. 34]

Added2. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 49 to supplement this Regulation by specifying the rules on the means of communication, including the electronic means of communication, to be used by the parties to proceedings before the Office and the forms to be made available by the Office.

AddedArticle 33 Register

Added1. As regards applications for unitary certificates for plant protection products, the Register set up under Article 35 of Regulation [COM(2023) 231] shall include, for each unitary certificate, or application for a unitary certificate, the following information, as applicable:

Added(a) the name and address of the applicant or certificate holder;

Added(b) the name and business address of the representative, other than a representative as referred to in Article 36(3);

Added(c) the application as well as its date of lodging and date of publication;

Added(d) whether the application relates to a medicinal product or to a plant protection product;

Added(e) the number of the basic patent;

Added(f) an identification of the product for which a unitary certificate is requested;

Added(g) the numbers and dates of the authorisations to place the product on the market referred to in Article 3(1), point (b), and an identification of the product identified in each of them;

Added(h) the number and date of the first authorisation to place the product on the market in the Union;

Added(i) the date and a summary of the examination opinion of the Office in respect of each of the Member States in which the basic patent has unitary effect; [Am. 35]

Added(j) where applicable, the number and the duration of the unitary certificate;

Added(k) where applicable, the filing of an opposition, its status and the outcome of the opposition proceedings, including where applicable a summary of the revised examination opinion; [Am. 36]

Added(l) where applicable, the filing of an appeal, its status and the outcome of the appeal proceedings, including where applicable a summary of the revised examination opinion; [Am. 37]

Added(m) where applicable, a mention that a certificate has lapsed or was declared invalid;

Added(n) where applicable, any decision regarding the geographical scope of the unitary certificate, in respect of a derogation under Article 3, paragraph 5 or under Article 20, paragraph 2;

Added(o) where applicable, the filing of an application for a declaration of invalidity and, once available, the outcome of the related proceedings;

Added(p) where applicable, information relating to a request for conversion, and its outcomes;

Added(q) information on the payment of annual fees.

Added2. The Register shall contain changes to the information referred to in paragraph 1, including transfers, each accompanied by the date of recording of such entry.

Added3. The Register and information referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be available in all official languages of the Union. The Office may use verified machine translation for the information to be published in the register.

Added4. The Executive Director of the Office may determine that information other than those referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be entered in the Register.

Added5. The Office shall collect, organise, make public and store the information referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, including any personal data, for the purposes laid down in paragraph 7. The Office shall keep the Register easily accessible for public inspection.

Added6. The Office shall provide certified or uncertified extracts from the Register on request and on payment of a fee.

Added7. The processing of the data concerning the entries set out in paragraphs 1 and 2, including any personal data, shall take place for the purposes of:

Added(a) administering the applications and unitary certificates in accordance with this Regulation and the acts adopted pursuant to it;

Added(b) maintaining the Register and making it available for inspection by public authorities and economic operators;

Added(c) producing reports and statistics enabling the Office to optimise its operations and improve the functioning of the system.

Added8. All the data, including personal data, concerning the entries in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be considered to be of public interest and may be accessed by any third party free of charge. For reasons of legal certainty, the entries in the Register shall be kept for an indefinite period of time.

AddedArticle 34 Database

Added1. In addition to the obligation to keep a Register, the Office shall collect and store in an electronic database all the particulars provided by applicants or any other third party observations pursuant to this Regulation or acts adopted pursuant to it.

Added2. The electronic database may include personal data, beyond those included in the Register, to the extent that such particulars are required by this Regulation or by acts adopted pursuant to it. The collection, storage and processing of such data shall serve the purposes of:

Added(a) administering the applications and/or certificate registrations as described in this Regulation and in acts adopted pursuant to it;

Added(b) accessing the information necessary for conducting the relevant proceedings more easily and efficiently;

Added(c) communicating with the applicants and other third parties;

Added(d) producing reports and statistics enabling the Office to optimise its operations and improve the functioning of the system.

Added3. The Executive Director shall determine the conditions of access to the electronic database and the manner in which its contents, other than the personal data referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article but including those listed in Article 33(3), may be made available in machine-readable form, including the charge for such access.

Added4. Access to the personal data referred to in paragraph 2 shall be restricted and such data shall not be made publicly available unless the party concerned has given his express consent.

Added5. All data shall be kept indefinitely. However, the party concerned may request the removal of any personal data from the database after 18 months from the expiry of the unitary certificate or, the case being, the closure of the relevant inter partes procedure. The party concerned shall have the right to obtain the correction of inaccurate or erroneous data at any time.

AddedArticle 35 Transparency

Added1. Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council shall apply to documents held by the Office.

Added2. The Management Board of the Office shall adopt detailed rules for applying Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 in the context of this Regulation.

Added3. Decisions taken by the Office under Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 may be challenged through the European Ombudsman or form the subject of an action before the Court of Justice of the European Union, under the conditions laid down in Articles 228 and 263 TFEU respectively.

Added4. The processing of personal data by the Office shall be subject to Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

AddedArticle 36 Representation

Added1. Natural or legal persons having neither their domicile nor their principal place of business or a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in the European Economic Area shall be represented before the Office in accordance with this Article in all proceedings provided for by this Regulation, other than the filing of an application for a unitary certificate.

Added2. Natural or legal persons having their domicile or principal place of business or a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in the Union may be represented before the Office by an employee.

AddedAn employee of a legal person may also represent other legal persons which are economically linked with the legal person being represented by that employee.

AddedThe second subparagraph also applies where those other legal persons have neither their domicile nor their principal place of business nor a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment within the Union.

AddedEmployees who represent natural or legal persons shall, at the request of the Office or, where appropriate, of the party to the proceedings, file with the Office a signed authorisation for insertion in the files.

Added3. A common representative shall be appointed where there is more than one applicant or more than one third party acting jointly.

Added4. Only a practitioner established in the Union, entitled to act as a professional representative in patent matters before a national patent office or the European Patent Office, or a lawyer authorised to practise before the courts or tribunals of a Member State, may represent natural or legal persons before the Office.

AddedArticle 37 Supplementary Protection Certificates Division

AddedA Supplementary Protection Certificate Division (‘SPC Division’) shall be set up within the Office and, in addition to the responsibilities under Regulations [COM(2023) 231] and [COM(2023) 223], shall be responsible for implementing the tasks set out in this Regulation and in Regulation [COM(2023) 222], including in particular:

Added(a) receiving and supervising the examination of applications for unitary certificates, appeals and observations by third parties;

Added(b) adopting examination opinions on behalf of the Office in relation to applications for unitary certificates;

Added(c) deciding on oppositions against examination opinions;