Parts of the file excluded from inspection
The parts of the file which shall be excluded from inspection pursuant to Article 74(4) of Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 shall be:
(a) documents relating to exclusion or objection pursuant to Article 132 of Regulation (EC) No 40/94, the provisions of that Article being considered for this purpose as applying mutatis mutandis to registered Community designs and to applications for these;
(b) draft decisions and opinions, and all other internal documents used for the preparation of decisions and opinions;
(c) parts of the file which the party concerned showed a special interest in keeping confidential before the application for inspection of the files was made, unless inspection of such part of the file is justified by overriding legitimate interests of the party seeking inspection.
Inspection of the Register of Community Designs
Where the registration is subject to a deferment of publication pursuant to Article 50(1) of Regulation (EC) No 6/2002:
(a) access to the Register to persons other than the holder shall be limited to the name of the holder, the name of any representative, the date of filing and registration, the file number of the application and the mention that publication is deferred;
(b) the certified or uncertified extracts from the Register shall contain only the name of the holder, the name of any representative, the date of filing and registration, the file number of the application and the mention that publication is deferred, except where the request has been made by the holder or his/her representative.
Procedures for the inspection of files
1. Inspection of the files of registered Community designs shall either be of the original document, or of copies thereof, or of technical means of storage if the files are so stored.
The request for inspection of the files shall not be deemed to have been made until the required fee has been paid.
The means of inspection shall be determined by the President of the Office.
2. Where inspection of the files relates to an application for a registered Community design or to a registered Community design which is subject to deferment of publication, which, being subject to such deferment, has been surrendered before or on the expiry of that period or which, pursuant to Article 50(4) of Regulation (EC) No 6/2002, is deemed from the outset not to have had the effects specified in that Regulation, the request shall contain an indication and evidence to the effect that:
(a) the applicant for or holder of the Community design has consented to the inspection; or
(b) the person requesting the inspection has established a legitimate interest in the inspection of the file, in particular where the applicant for or holder of the Community design has stated that after the design has been registered he/she will invoke the rights under it against the person requesting the inspection.
3. Inspection of the files shall take place on the premises of the Office.
4. On request, inspection of the files shall be effected by means of issuing copies of file documents. Such copies shall incur fees.
5. The Office shall issue on request certified or uncertified copies of the application for a registered Community design or of those file documents of which copies may be issued pursuant to paragraph 4 upon payment of a fee.
Communication of information contained in the files
Subject to the restrictions provided for in Article 74 of Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 and Articles 72 and 73 of this Regulation, the Office may, upon request, communicate information from any file of a Community design applied for or of a registered Community design, subject to payment of a fee.
However, the Office may require the applicant to inspect the file in situ, should it deem that to be appropriate in view of the quantity of information to be supplied.
Keeping of files
1. The Office shall keep the files relating to Community design applications and to registered Community designs for at least five years from the end of the year in which:
(a) the application is rejected or withdrawn;
(b) the registration of the registered Community design expires definitively;
(c) the complete surrender of the registered Community design is registered pursuant to Article 51 of Regulation (EC) No 6/2002;
(d) the registered Community design is definitively removed from the Register;
(e) the registered Community design is deemed not to have had the effects specified in Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 pursuant to Article 50(4) thereof.
2. The President of the Office shall determine the form in which the files shall be kept.
CHAPTER XVII
ADMINISTRATIVE COOPERATION
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
