1.   A certificate shall be granted if, in the Member State in which the application referred to in Article 7 is submitted and at the date of that application, all of the following conditions are fulfilled:

2.   The holder of more than one patent for the same product shall not be granted more than one certificate for that product. However, where two or more applications concerning the same product and emanating from two or more holders of different patents are pending, one certificate for that product may be issued to each of those holders, where they are not economically linked. The same principle shall apply mutatis mutandis to applications submitted by the holder concerning the same product for which one or more certificates or unitary certificates have been previously granted to other different holders of different patents. [Am. 7]

1.   The certificate shall be granted to the holder of the basic patent or to the successor in title of that holder.

2.   Notwithstanding paragraph 1, where a basic patent has been granted in respect of a product that is the subject of an authorisation held by a third party, a certificate for that product shall not be granted to the holder of the basic patent without the consent of that third party.

1.   The application for a certificate shall be lodged within 6 months of the date on which the authorisation referred to in Article 3(1), point (b), to place the product on the market as a plant protection product was granted.

2.   Notwithstanding paragraph 1, where the authorisation to place the product on the market is granted before the basic patent is granted, the application for a certificate shall be lodged within 6 months of the date on which the patent is granted.

1.   The application for a certificate shall contain the following:

2.   Member States may provide that a fee is to be payable upon application for a certificate.

1.   The application for a certificate shall be lodged with the competent industrial property office of the Member State which granted the basic patent or on whose behalf it was granted and in which the authorisation referred to in Article 3(1), point (b), to place the product on the market was obtained, unless the Member State designates another authority for that purpose.

2.   Notification of the application for a certificate shall be published by the authority referred to in paragraph 1. The notification shall contain all of the following information:

1.   Where the application for a certificate and the product to which it relates meet the conditions laid down in this Chapter, the authority referred to in Article 9(1) shall grant the certificate.

2.   The authority referred to in Article 9(1) shall, subject to paragraph 3 of this Article, reject the application for a certificate if the application or the product to which it relates does not meet the conditions laid down in this Chapter.

3.   Where the application for a certificate does not meet the conditions laid down in Article 8, the authority referred to in Article 9(1) shall ask the applicant to rectify the irregularity, or to settle the fee, within a stated time.

4.   If the irregularity is not rectified or the fee is not settled under paragraph 3 within the stated time, the authority shall reject the application.

5.   Member States may provide that the authority referred to in Article 9(1) is to grant certificates without verifying that the conditions laid down in Article 3(1), points (c) and (d), are met.

1.   The authority referred to in Article 9(1) shall publish, as soon as possible, notification of the fact that a certificate has been granted. The notification shall contain all of the following information:

2.   The authority referred to in Article 9(1) shall publish, as soon as possible, a notification of the fact that the application for a certificate has been rejected. The notification shall contain at least the information listed in Article 9(2).

1.   The certificate shall take effect at the end of the lawful term of the basic patent for a period equal to the period which elapsed between the date on which the application for a basic patent was lodged and the date of the first authorisation to place the product on the market in the Union, reduced by a period of 5 years.

2.   Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the duration of the certificate may not exceed 5 years from the date on which it takes effect.

3.   For the purposes of calculating the duration of the certificate, account shall be taken of a provisional first marketing authorisation only if it is directly followed by a definitive authorisation concerning the same product.

1.   The certificate shall be invalid in any of the following events:

2.   Any person may submit an application or bring an action for a declaration of invalidity of the certificate before the body responsible under national law for the revocation of the corresponding basic patent, or before a competent court of a Member State.

1.   The decisions of the authority referred to in Article 9(1) or of the body referred to in Article 15(2) taken under this Chapter shall be open to the same appeals as those provided for in national law against similar decisions taken in respect of national patents.

2.   The decision to grant the certificate shall be open to an appeal aimed at rectifying the duration of the certificate where the date of the first authorisation to place the product on the market in the Union, contained in the application for a certificate as provided for in Article 8, is incorrect.

1.   In the absence of procedural provisions in this Regulation, the procedural provisions applicable under national law to the corresponding basic patent and, where appropriate, the procedural provisions applicable to the certificates referred to in Regulation (EC) No 469/2009 [OP, please insert reference to COM(2023)0231], shall apply to the certificate, unless national law lays down special procedural provisions for certificates.

2.   Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the procedure for opposition to the grant of a certificate shall be excluded.

1.   Where the basic patent is a European patent, including a unitary patent, and authorisations to place the product on the market have been granted in at least one Member State in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, the procedure in this Chapter may be used.

2.   A centralised application shall be lodged with the European Union Intellectual Property Office established by Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 (‘the Office’).

3.   Articles 1 to 7 and 13 to 17 shall apply to centralised applications.

4.   The centralised application shall be lodged by using a specific application form.

The Commission is empowered to adopt implementing acts laying down rules on the application form to be used to lodge a centralised application. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 55.

1.   The Office shall examine the following:

2.   Where the centralised application does not satisfy the requirements referred to in paragraph 1, the Office shall request the applicant to take the measures necessary to satisfy those requirements and shall set a deadline for such compliance.

3.   Where the fee referred to in paragraph 1, point (c), has not been paid or has not been paid in full, the Office shall inform the applicant accordingly.

4.   If the applicant does not satisfy the requirements referred to in paragraph 1 within the deadline referred to in paragraph 2, the Office shall reject the application.

1.   The Office shall assess the application on the basis of all the conditions in Article 3(1) for each of the designated Member States.

2.   Where the centralised application for a certificate and the product to which it relates comply with Article 3(1) Articles 3(1) and 6(2) in respect of all or some of the designated Member States, the Office shall adopt a reasoned positive examination opinion in respect of such Member States. The Office shall notify that opinion to the applicant. [Am. 10]

3.   Where the centralised application for a certificate and the product to which it relates does not comply with Article 3(1) Articles 3(1) and 6(2) in respect of all or some of the designated Member States, the Office shall adopt a reasoned negative examination opinion in respect of such Member States. The Office shall notify that opinion to the applicant. [Am. 11]

4.   The Office shall translate the examination opinion in the official languages of all designated Member States. The Office may use verified machine translation to that effect.

5.   The Commission is empowered to adopt implementing acts laying down rules on procedures relating to the filing, and procedures regarding the way in which examination panels examine centralised applications and prepare examination opinions, as well as the issuance of examination opinions by the Office. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 55.

1.   By way of derogation from Article 3(1), point (b), the Office shall adopt a positive opinion for a given plant protection product, on the basis of a centralised application, for each designated Member State where both of the following conditions are fulfilled:

2.   The examination opinion shall not be adopted earlier than 18 months after the centralised application was filed, unless a valid authorisation to place the product on the market as a plant protection product has been granted in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 in each of the designated Member States, at the filing date of the centralised application.

3.   In respect of a designated Member State in which no authorisation was granted earlier than 18 months after the centralised application was filed, the Office shall suspend the examination proceedings, and shall resume those proceedings if and when such an authorisation is granted by the competent national authority, and is submitted to the Office by the applicant before the expiry of the basic patent.

1.   Any natural or legal person may submit written observations to the Office concerning the eligibility for supplementary protection of the product to which the application relates in one or more of the Member States designated therein.

2.   A natural or legal person that has submitted the written observations in accordance with paragraph 1 shall not be a party to the proceedings.

3.   Third party observations shall be submitted within 3 months after publication of the centralised application in the Register.

4.   Any observations by a third party shall be submitted in writing in one of the official languages of the Union and state the grounds on which they are based.

5.   Any observations by a third party shall be notified to the applicant. The applicant may comment on the observations within a time limit set by the Office.

1.   Within a period of 2 months following the publication of the examination opinion in respect of a centralised application, any person (‘opponent’) may file with the Office a notice of opposition to that opinion.

2.   Opposition may only be filed on the grounds that one or more of the conditions set out in Article 3 or 6 are not fulfilled for one or more of the designated Member States. [Am. 12]

3.   Opposition shall be filed in writing, and shall specify the grounds on which it is made. It shall not be considered as duly filed until the opposition fee has been paid.

4.   The notice of opposition shall contain:

5.   The opposition shall be examined by an opposition panel set up by the Office in accordance with the rules applicable to examination panels as referred to in Article 28. However, the opposition panel shall not include any examiner previously involved in the examination panel that examined the centralised application.

6.   If the opposition panel notes that the notice of opposition does not comply with paragraphs 2, 3 or 4, it shall reject the opposition as inadmissible, and communicate this to its decision as well as its reasoning for that decision to the opponent, unless these deficiencies have been remedied before expiry of the opposition filing period referred to in paragraph 1. [Am. 14]

7.   The decision to reject an opposition as inadmissible shall be communicated to the holder of the centralised application, together with a copy of the notice of opposition.

A notice of opposition shall be inadmissible where a previous appeal relating to the same subject matter and cause of action has been adjudicated on its merits by the Office, and the decision of the Office on that appeal has acquired the authority of a final decision.

8.   Where the opposition is not rejected as inadmissible, the Office shall promptly transmit the notice of opposition to the applicant, and shall publish it in the Register. If several notices of opposition have been filed, the Office shall promptly communicate them to the other opponents.

8a.     In cases where several oppositions have been filed against an examination opinion, the Office shall deal with the oppositions jointly and issue one single decision in respect of all oppositions filed. [Am. 15]

9.   The Office shall issue a decision on the opposition , including a detailed reasoning for that decision, within 6 months, unless the complexity of the case requires a longer period. [Am. 16]

10.   If the opposition panel considers that no ground for opposition prejudices the maintenance of the examination opinion, it shall reject the opposition, and notify the opponent of its decision, and the Office shall mention this in the Register. [Am. 17]

11.   If the opposition panel considers that at least one ground for opposition prejudices the maintenance of the examination opinion, it shall adopt an amended opinion, notify the opponent of its decision and the Office shall mention this in the Register. [Am. 18]

12.   The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 54 to supplement this Regulation by specifying the details of the procedure for filing and examining an opposition.

12a.     Full transparency shall be ensured throughout the whole opposition proceeding, which shall be open, whenever possible, to public participation. [Am. 19]

1.   On a request made to the Office, any competent national authority may be appointed by the Office as a participating office in the examination procedure. Once a competent national authority is appointed in accordance with this Article, that authority shall designate one or more examiners to be involved in the examination of one or more centralised applications , on the basis of their relevant expertise and their experience in the field . [Am. 20]

2.   The Office and the competent national authority shall conclude an administrative agreement before that competent national authority is appointed as participating office as referred to in paragraph 1.

The agreement shall specify the rights and obligations of the parties, in particular the formal undertaking by the competent national authority concerned to comply with this Regulation as regards the centralised examination procedure.

3.   The Office may appoint a competent national authority as a participating office as referred to in paragraph 1 for 5 years. That appointment may be extended for further periods of 5 years.

4.   The Office shall, before appointing a competent national authority, or extending its appointment, or before any such appointment expires, hear the competent national authority concerned.

5.   Each competent national authority appointed under this Article shall provide the Office with a list identifying the individual examiners who are available for participation in examination and opposition proceedings. Each such competent national authority shall update that list in the event of a change.

1.   The assessments under Articles 23 and 26 shall be conducted by an examination panel including one member of the Office as well as two examiners as referred to in Article 27(1) from two different participating competent national authorities.

2.   Examiners shall be impartial in the exercise of their duties and shall declare to the Office any real or perceived conflict of interest upon their designation.

3.   When setting up an examination panel, the Office shall ensure the following:

4.   The Office shall publish a yearly overview of the number of procedures, including those for examination, opposition and appeal, each competent national authority participated in.

5.   The Commission is empowered to adopt implementing acts to determine the criteria in the ways the panels are to be set up, and the criteria for the selection of examiners. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 55.

1.   Any party to proceedings under this Chapter, adversely affected by a decision of the Office, including the adoption of an examination opinion, may appeal the decision to the Boards of Appeal.

2.   The filing of the appeal shall have suspensive effect. A decision of the Office that has not been contested shall take effect on the day following the date of expiry of the appeal period referred to in paragraph 3.

3.   Notice of appeal shall be filed in writing at the Office within 2 months of the date of notification of the decision. The notice shall be deemed to have been filed only when the fee for appeal has been paid. In case of an appeal, a written statement setting out the grounds of appeal , including the evidence supporting these grounds, shall be filed within 4 three months of the date of notification of the decision.

Any reply to the statement of grounds of appeal shall be submitted in writing no later than three months from the date of the filing of the statement of grounds of appeal. The Office shall, where applicable, fix a date for oral proceedings within three months following the filing of the reply or within six months following the filing of the statement of grounds of appeal, whichever is earlier. The Office shall issue a written decision within three months of the date of the oral hearing, or of the filing of the reply to the statement of grounds of appeal, as applicable. [Am. 24]

4.   Following an examination of admissibility of the appeal, the Boards of Appeal shall decide on the merits of the appeal.

4a.     The Office shall inform the applicant of its decision without undue delay. [Am. 25]

5.   Where an appeal before the Boards of Appeal of the Office results in a decision which is not in line with the examination opinion and is remitted to the Office, the decision of the Boards may shall annul or alter that opinion before transmitting it to the competent national authorities of the designated Member States. [Am. 26]

6.   An action may be brought before the General Court of the European Union against a decision of the Boards of Appeal in relation to appeals, within 2 months of the date of notification of that decision, on grounds of infringement of an essential procedural requirement, infringement of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, infringement of this Regulation or of any rule of law relating to their application or misuse of power. The action shall be open to any party to proceedings before the Board of Appeal adversely affected by its decision. The General Court shall have jurisdiction to annul or to alter the contested decision.

7.   The decisions of the Boards of Appeal shall take effect on the day following the date of expiry of the period referred to in paragraph 6 or, if an action has been brought before the General Court within that period, as from the date following the day of dismissal of such action or of dismissal of any appeal filed with the Court of Justice of the European Union against the decision of the General Court. The Office shall take the necessary measures to comply with the judgement of the General Court or, in the event of an appeal against that judgement, the Court of Justice.

8.   The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 54 to supplement this Regulation by specifying the content and form of the notice of appeal referred to in paragraph 3, the procedure for the filing and examination of an appeal and the content and the form of the Boards of Appeal’s decision referred to in paragraph 4.

1.   In addition to the powers conferred upon it by Article 165 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001, the Boards of Appeal instituted by that Regulation shall be responsible for deciding on appeals against decisions of the Office taken on the basis of Article 29(1).

2.   A Board of Appeal in matters regarding centralised applications for certificates shall consist of three members, at least two of whom are legally qualified. Where the Board of Appeal considers that the nature of the appeal so requires, it may call up to two further members for that case.

3.   There shall be no Grand Board as referenced in Article 165 (2), (3) and 4, as well as Article 167 (2) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 in matters regarding centralised applications for certificates. Decisions taken by a single member as under Article 165 (2) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 shall not be possible.

4.   Members of the Boards of Appeal in matters regarding centralised applications for certificates shall be appointed in accordance with Article 166 (5) 166(5) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001. When appointing members of the Boards of Appeal in matters regarding centralised applications for certificates, their prior experience in supplementary protection certificate or patent matters shall be taken into account. [Am. 27]

4a.     Article 166(9) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 shall apply to the Boards of Appeal in matters regarding centralised applications for certificates. [Am. 28]

1.   After the period during which an appeal or an opposition may be filed has expired without any appeal nor opposition being filed, or after a final decision on the merits has been issued, the Office shall transmit the examination opinion and its translations to the competent national authority of each designated Member State.

2.   In respect of a centralised application, where a positive examination opinion has been issued for one or more designated Member State, the competent national authority of each of those Member States shall grant a certificate in accordance with applicable national rules and procedures.

3.   By way of derogation from paragraph 2, a Member State may decide not to grant a certificate, where material circumstances, in that Member State, have changed since the filing of the centralised application in respect of one or more of the conditions laid down in Article 15(1), points (b) or (c), or Article 14, first paragraph, point (d). In such a case that Member State shall reject the application insofar as that Member State is concerned.

4.   A certificate granted by a competent national authority under this Article shall be subject to Articles 4, 5, 11 and 12 to 18, and to the applicable national legislation.

5.   Where a negative examination opinion has been issued for one or more designated Member State, the competent national authority of each of these Member States shall issue a rejection decision according to its applicable national rules and procedures.

1.   The Office shall charge a fee for a centralised application for certificates.

2.   The Office shall charge a fee for an appeal, and for an opposition.

3.   The Commission is empowered to adopt implementing acts to determine the amounts of the fees charged by the Office, the time limits within which they have to be paid, and the ways in which those fees are to be paid. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 55.

4.   Article 12 shall apply to certificates granted under this Chapter.

1.   As regards centralised applications for certificates for plant protection products, the Register set up under Article 35 of Regulation [OP, please insert reference to COM(2023)0231] (15) shall include, for each centralised application or certificate, all of the following information:

2.   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.

3.   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.

4.   Competent national authorities shall promptly share with the Office information relating to the grant, lapse, invalidity or transfers of certificates and to the rejection of applications under Chapters II and III, and to the payment of related annual fees.

5.   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.

6.   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 8. The Office shall keep the Register easily accessible for public inspection.

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

8.   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:

9.   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.

1.   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.

2.   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:

3.   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 34(3), may be made available in machine-readable form, including the charge for such access.

4.   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.

5.   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 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.

1.   Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (16) shall apply to documents held by the Office.

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

3.   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.

4.   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 (17).

1.   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 Chapter III of this Regulation, other than the filing of a centralised application.

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

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

The 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.

Employees 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.

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

4.   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.

1.   A centralised application may also include a request for the grant of a unitary certificate, as defined in Regulation [OP, please insert reference to COM(2023)0221] (18) (‘combined application’).

2.   The combined application shall undergo a single centralised examination procedure, as well as a single opposition or appeal procedure, where it has been filed against an opinion or decision in respect of both the centralised application and the unitary certificate application.

3.   The Member States for which the basic patent has unitary effect shall not be designated in the combined application for the parallel grant of national certificates. Any designation, in the combined application, of a Member State for which the basic patent has unitary effect shall be disregarded for the purpose of the examination of the combined application.

1.   All documents and information sent to the Office in respect of the procedures under this Regulation shall be in one of the official languages of the Union.

2.   For the tasks conferred on the Office under this Regulation, the languages of the Office shall be all the official languages of the Union in accordance with Council Regulation No 1 (19).

1.   Communications addressed to the Office may be effected by electronic means. The Executive Director shall determine to what extent and under which technical conditions those communications may be submitted electronically.

2.   The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 54 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.

1.   Decisions of the Office under this Chapter shall include examination opinions and shall state the reasons on which they are based. They shall be based only on reasons or evidence on which the parties concerned have had an opportunity to present their comments. Where oral proceedings are held before the Office, the decision may be given orally. Subsequently, the decision or opinion shall be notified in writing to the parties.

2.   Any decision, opinion, communication or notice from the Office under this Chapter shall indicate the SPC Division and the relevant panel as well as the name or the names of the examiners responsible. It shall be signed by these examiners, or, instead of a signature, carry a printed or stamped seal of the Office. The Executive Director may determine that other means of identifying the SPC Division and the name of the examiners responsible, or an identification other than a seal, may be used where decisions or other communications are transmitted by any technical means of communication.

3.   Decisions of the Office under this Chapter which are open to appeal shall be accompanied by a written communication indicating that any notice of appeal is to be filed in writing at the Office within 2 months of the date of notification of the decision in question. That communication shall also draw the attention of the parties to the provisions laid down in Article 29. The parties may not plead any failure on the part of the Office to communicate the availability of appeal proceedings.

1.   If the Office considers that oral proceedings would be expedient they shall be held either at the instance of the Office or at the request of any party to the proceedings.

2.   Oral proceedings before an examination panel or opposition panel shall not be public.

3.   Oral proceedings before the Boards of Appeal, including delivery of the decision and, as the case may be, of a revised opinion, shall be public, unless the Boards of Appeal decide otherwise in cases where admission of the public could have serious and unjustified disadvantages, in particular for a party to the proceedings.

4.   The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 54 to supplement this Regulation by setting out the detailed arrangements for oral proceedings.

1.   In any proceedings before the Office, the means of giving or obtaining evidence shall include the following:

2.   The relevant panel may commission one of its members to examine the evidence adduced.

3.   If the Office or the relevant panel considers it necessary for a party, witness or expert to give evidence orally, it shall issue a summons to the person concerned to appear before it. Where an expert is summonsed, the Office or the relevant panel, as applicable, shall be verify that that expert is free of any conflict of interest. The period of notice provided in such summons shall be at least 1 month, unless they agree to a shorter period. [Am. 32]

4.   The parties shall be informed of the hearing of a witness or expert before the Office. They shall have the right to be present and to put questions to the witness or expert.

5.   The Executive Director shall determine the amounts of expenses to be paid, including advances, as regards the costs of taking of evidence as referred to in this Article.

6.   The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 54 to supplement this Regulation by setting out the detailed arrangements for the taking of evidence.

1.   The Office shall, as a matter of course, notify those concerned of decisions, including opinions, summonses and of any notice or other communication from which a time limit is reckoned, or of which those concerned are to be notified under other provisions of this Chapter or of acts adopted pursuant to this Chapter, or of which notification has been ordered by the Executive Director.

2.   Notification may be effected by different means, including electronic means. The details regarding electronic means shall be determined by the Executive Director.

3.   Where notification is to be effected by public notice, the Executive Director shall determine how the public notice is to be given and shall fix the beginning of the 1-month period on the expiry of which the document shall be deemed to have been notified.

4.   The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 54 to supplement this Regulation by setting out the detailed arrangements for notification.

1.   Time limits shall be laid down in terms of full years, months, weeks or days. Calculation shall start on the day following the day on which the relevant event occurred. The duration of time limits shall be no less than 1 month and no more than 6 months.

2.   The Executive Director shall determine, before the commencement of each calendar year, the days on which the Office is not open for receipt of documents or on which ordinary post is not delivered in the locality in which the Office is located.

3.   The Executive Director shall determine the duration of the period of interruption in the case of a general interruption in the delivery of post in the Member State where the Office is located or, in the case of an actual interruption of the Office's connection to admitted electronic means of communication.

4.   If an exceptional occurrence, such as a natural disaster or strike, interrupts or interferes with proper communication from the parties to the proceedings to the Office or vice-versa, the Executive Director may determine that for parties to the proceedings having their residence or registered office in the Member State concerned or who have appointed a representative with a place of business in the Member State concerned all time limits that otherwise would expire on or after the date of commencement of such occurrence, as determined by the Executive Director, shall extend until a date to be determined by the Executive Director. When determining that date, the Executive Director shall assess when the exceptional occurrence comes to an end. If the occurrence affects the seat of the Office, such determination of the Executive Director shall specify that it applies in respect of all parties to the proceedings.

5.   The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 54 to supplement this Regulation by specifying the details regarding the calculation and duration of time limits.

1.   The Office shall correct any linguistic errors or errors of transcription and manifest oversights in its decisions, including opinions, or technical errors in publishing information in the Register, of its own motion or at the request of a party.

2.   Where the Office has made an entry in the Register or taken a decision which contains an obvious error attributable to the Office, it shall ensure that the entry is cancelled or the decision is revoked. The cancellation of the entry in the Register or the revocation of the decision shall be effected within 1 year of the date on which the entry was made in the Register or that decision was taken, after consultation with the parties to the proceedings.

3.   The Office shall keep records of any such corrections or cancellations.

4.   Corrections and cancellations shall be published by the Office.

1.   The applicant or any other party to proceedings before the Office under this Chapter, who, in spite of all due care required by the circumstances having been taken, was unable to comply with a time limit vis-à-vis the Office shall, upon application, have his rights re-established if the obstacle to compliance has the direct consequence, by virtue of the provisions of this Chapter, of causing the loss of any right or means of redress.

2.   The application for re-establishment shall be filed in writing within 2 months of the removal of the obstacle to compliance with the time limit. The omitted act shall be completed within this period. The application shall only be admissible within the year immediately following the expiry of the unobserved time limit.

3.   The application for re-establishment shall state the grounds on which it is based and shall set out the facts on which it relies. It shall not be deemed to be filed until the fee for re-establishment of rights has been paid.

4.   The SPC Division, or where applicable the Boards of Appeal, shall decide upon the application.

5.   This Article shall not be applicable to the time limits referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, or in Article 26(1) and (3).

1.   Proceedings before the Office under this Chapter shall be interrupted:

2.   Proceedings before the Office shall be resumed as soon as the identity of the person authorised to continue them has been established.

3.   The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 54 to supplement this Regulation by setting out the detailed arrangements for the resumption of proceedings before the Office.

1.   The losing party in opposition proceedings, including in related appeal proceedings, shall bear the fees paid by the other party. The losing party shall also bear all costs incurred by the other party that are essential to the proceedings, including travel and subsistence and the remuneration of a representative, within the maximum rates set for each category of costs in the implementing act to be adopted in accordance with paragraph 7. The fees to be borne by the losing party shall be limited to the fees paid by the other party in those proceedings.

2.   Where each party succeeds on some and fails on other heads, or if reasons of equity so dictate, the SPC Division or Board of Appeal shall decide a different apportionment of costs.

3.   Where proceedings are terminated the costs shall be at the discretion of the SPC Division or Board of Appeal.

4.   Where the parties conclude before the SPC Division or Board of Appeal a settlement of costs differing from that provided for in paragraphs 1 to 3, the body concerned shall take note of that agreement.

5.   The SPC Division or Board of Appeal shall fix the amount of the costs to be paid pursuant to paragraphs 1 to 3 of this Article when the costs to be paid are limited to the fees paid to the Office and the representation costs. In all other cases, the registry of the Board of Appeal or SPC Division shall fix, on request, the amount of the costs to be reimbursed. The request shall be admissible only for the period of 2 months following the date on which the decision for which an application was made for the costs to be fixed becomes final and shall be accompanied by a bill and supporting evidence. For the costs of representation an assurance by the representative that the costs that have been incurred shall be sufficient. For other costs, it shall be sufficient if their plausibility is established. Where the amount of the costs is fixed pursuant to the first sentence of this paragraph, representation costs shall be awarded at the level laid down in the implementing act adopted pursuant to paragraph 7 of this Article and irrespective of whether they have been actually incurred.

6.   Decisions on the fixing of costs adopted in accordance with paragraph 5 shall state the reasons on which they are based, and may be reviewed by a decision of the SPC Division or Board of Appeal on a request filed within 1 month of the date of notification of the awarding of costs. It shall not be deemed to be filed until the fee for reviewing the amount of the costs has been paid. The SPC Division or the Board of Appeal, as the case may be, shall take a decision on the request for a review of the decision on the fixing of costs without oral proceedings.

7.   The Commission shall adopt implementing acts specifying the maximum rates for costs essential to the proceedings and actually incurred by the successful party. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 55.

8.   When specifying the maximum rates with respect to travel and subsistence costs, the Commission shall take into account the distance between the place of residence or business of the party, representative or witness or expert and the place where the oral proceedings are held, the procedural stage at which the costs have been incurred, and, as far as costs of representation are concerned, the need to ensure that the obligation to bear the costs may not be misused for tactical reasons by the other party. In addition, subsistence expenses shall be calculated in accordance with the Staff Regulations of Officials of the Union and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the Union, laid down in Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68 (20). The losing party shall bear the costs for one party in the proceedings only and, where applicable, one representative only.

1.   Any final decision of the Office fixing the amount of costs shall be enforceable.

2.   Enforcement shall be governed by the rules of civil procedure in force in the Member State in the territory of which it is carried out. Each Member State shall designate a single authority responsible for verifying the authenticity of the decision referred to in paragraph 1 and shall communicate its contact details to the Office, the Court of Justice and the Commission. The order for enforcement shall be appended to the decision by that authority, with the verification of the authenticity of the decision as the sole formality.

3.   When these formalities have been completed on application by the party concerned, the latter may proceed to enforcement in accordance with the national law, by bringing the matter directly before the competent authority.

4.   Enforcement may be suspended only by a decision of the Court of Justice. However, the courts of the Member State concerned shall have jurisdiction over complaints that enforcement is being carried out in an irregular manner.

1.   The expenses incurred by the Office in carrying out the additional tasks given to it in accordance with this Regulation shall be covered by the procedural fees to be paid to it by applicants and, if needed, by a fraction of the annual fees paid to competent national authorities by the holders of certificates granted under this Chapter. That fraction shall initially be set at a certain value but shall be reviewed every 5 years, with the objective of achieving financial sustainability for the activities carried out by the Office under this Regulation as well as Regulations [OP, please insert reference to COM(2023)0231], [OP, please insert reference to COM(2023)0222] and [OP, please insert reference to COM(2023)0221], insofar as expenses incurred by the Office are not covered by fees under these Regulations.

2.   For the purposes of implementing paragraph 1, each competent national authority shall keep an account of the annual fees paid to it by holders of certificates granted under this Chapter.

3.   The expenses incurred by a competent national authority participating in proceedings under this Chapter shall be covered by the Office and shall be paid annually, on the basis of the number of proceedings in which that competent national authority was involved during the preceding year.

4.   The Commission is empowered to adopt implementing acts laying down rules on the financial transfers between the Office and Member States, the amounts of these transfers, and the remuneration to be paid by the Office regarding the participation of competent national authorities referred to in paragraph 3. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 55.

1.   The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.

2.   The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Articles 26(13), 29(8), 31, 41(2), 43(4), 44(6), 45(4), 46(5) and 49(3) shall be conferred on the Commission for an indeterminate period of time from the date of entry into force of this Regulation.

3.   The delegation of power referred to in Articles 26(13), 29(8), 31, 41(2), 43(4), 44(6), 45(4), 46(5) and 49(3) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect on the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.

4.   Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by each Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making.

5.   As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.

6.   A delegated act adopted pursuant to Articles 26(13), 29(8), 31, 41(2), 43(4), 44(6), 45(4), 46(5) and 49(3) shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or by the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.

1.   The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee on Supplementary Protection Certificates established by Regulation [OP, please insert reference to COM(2023)0231]. That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.

2.   Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.