Yes, you can file subsequent communications in the EP procedure online with the EPO using Form EP(1038E). Priority documents are excluded, with the exception of digitally signed US certified copies of priority documents, which can be obtained from the USPTO website (www.uspto.gov).
There is as yet no facility for the online filing of subsequently filed documents in PCT applications.
In the File Manager go to the "All Applications" folder, then select Sent from the status selection bar. In the Info Pane click the 'View...' button. This will display all the sent documents, including the receipt. These documents can be exported and saved in PDF or XML format.
The rules on attaching PDF files are even stricter under the PCT procedure than under the EP procedure, so please ensure that your PDF documents meet the following requirements:
For more information about PDF, TIFF and JPG formats, see
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/texts/pdf/ai_anf.pdf
If the problem persists, contact EPO user support or WIPO direct.
To ensure that the PDF you have created will be accepted by the Online Filing software, you can use the Amyuni PDF converter obtainable from EPO user support, which is open Monday to Friday, 08.00-18.00 hrs CET, on +31 (0)70 340 45 00 or at support@epo.org.
What should I do?
To guarantee compliance, you should therefore ensure that your PDF generator and resulting PDFs meet the following criteria:
If you are generating PDFs from paper documents using your company scanner you should adjust the settings of your scanner accordingly.
PDF files containing a combination of landscape and portrait formats are accepted.
PDFs should not be signed (exception: certified copies of US priority documents). Note: US priority documents can be submitted in A4 format only.
The EPO Online Filing client may sometimes detect non-compliancy with Annex F in error and reject the file. It may also reject files which marginally exceed the permitted dimensions for A4 (PDF sizes up to 312 x 227 mm (A4 +5%) or 12.28 x 8.94" (letter +5%) are accepted).
If you encounter errors when you want to attach
you should install the "Update for V4 users experiencing problems when trying to attach PDF documents" (available since 4 August 2009).
The update should be installed on top of the Online Filing client V4 with all the mandatory updates installed (the latest being the 1 April 2009 fee reform update) (see the Download Centre on this website).
How to install the update
Warning
If you install a national office plug-in after you have installed this update, you must re-install the update as follows:
To ensure that the PDF files you create will be accepted by the Online Filing software you can also use the Amyuni PDF converter available from EPO User Support. You can contact them Monday to Friday, 08.00 - 18.00 hrs CET, on +31 (0)70 340 45 00 or at support@epo.org
It means that either you have not specified your proxy details in the File Manager or Server Manager or your proxy server has not been enabled to allow SSL tunnelling under HTTPS. Please check the proxy settings defined in the Server Manager.