The EPO Goes Fully Paperless on 1 April 2027 — We Have Been Ready for Years

Prague, 2 October 2026. The European Patent Office has announced that its patent granting process becomes fully digital on 1 April 2027. From that date, every official notification and communication from the EPO will be delivered to the Mailbox in MyEPO, the central hub of the EPO's online services — and paper copies will no longer be sent in parallel. The EPO accompanied the announcement with a reassuring message to its correspondents: those whose Mailbox is already activated and enabled for all recipients are, in its own words, already fully set up and need to take no further steps. For our office, that confirmation is old news. We have operated fully electronic EPO communications for years, so the switch on 1 April 2027 changes nothing for our clients' cases.

What actually changes. Until now, key communications — search reports, examination results, decisions, grant publications and fee reminders — have arrived both electronically and on paper. From 1 April 2027 the Mailbox in MyEPO becomes the only channel of record. There will be no parallel paper copy to catch a missed electronic notification, and there will be no extended reaction window for parties who preferred to read a printed letter. What used to be a convenience becomes a single point of failure for anyone not actively monitoring their Mailbox.

The delivery rule that matters most. Documents notified electronically are deemed delivered on the date they bear. Every deadline — the four-month response to an examination report, the nine-month opposition window after grant, the one-month deadline for a Unitary Patent request — starts to run from the document date, whether or not the addressee has actually opened the Mailbox. Where electronic notification is not possible for reasons attributable to the addressee, the EPO will fall back on notification by public notice, which is deemed delivered one month after publication. In practice this means that a representative who does not check the Mailbox regularly does not get more time — they silently lose it.

"We switched to fully electronic EPO communications years ago, so 1 April 2027 changes nothing about how we run our clients' cases," said Karel Bauer, European Patent Attorney. "Our Mailbox is activated for all recipients, email alerts are switched on, and our docketing reviews incoming communications daily. The only thing that changes next April is that unprepared competitors now have to catch up." The EPO's own notice to us stated that we are already fully set up for electronic communications and need no further steps to prepare for the deadline — a confirmation we are happy to see in writing.

What this means for US companies and their counsel. If you are filing in Europe through a US firm, the practical consequence is simple: your European Patent Attorney — not your US patent lawyer, who cannot act as a representative before the EPO — is the addressee of record, and their readiness determines whether your deadlines are safe. Electronic notification actually shortens the perceived distance in time between Munich and a US office: documents arrive on the day they are issued, which means clocks start ticking earlier, not later. Working with a representative who monitors the Mailbox daily and calendars deadlines the same day turns this into an advantage rather than a risk.

Our clients need to do nothing. No change of contact details, no new registrations, no action before the deadline — the Mailbox is active, the alerts are on, and every incoming communication is logged and diarised the day it arrives. If you currently receive EPO communications on paper directly, note that after 1 April 2027 that paper copy will simply stop; if your MyEPO access details have changed or you are unsure who is registered as your recipient, send us the application number and we will confirm your setup.

If you are planning a European filing — direct EPO filing or PCT regional-phase entry — and want a representative whose process is already fully digital, send your application or priority details to docket@bauerip.com for a fixed-fee quote within one business day. The mechanics of the EPO procedure are described in the EPO filing process guide, and the full representation service is on the European Patent Attorney page.