Verification of authenticity and validity of documents required for the issuance of the EPC
Article 14
1. In cases where the competent authority of the home Member State has issued any document required for the issuance of the EPC under Article 10, it shall certify in the IMI file that the document is valid and authentic. 2. In the event of duly justified doubts, where the required document was issued by another national body of the home Member State, the competent authority of the home Member State shall ask the relevant national body to confirm the validity and authenticity of the document. After receiving confirmation, it shall certify in IMI that the document is valid and authentic. 3. If a document was issued in another Member State, the competent authority of the home Member State shall contact via IMI the competent authority of the other Member State responsible for EPC applications (or other relevant national body of the other Member State registered in IMI) to verify the validity and authenticity of the document. After completion of verification, it shall certify in IMI that the competent authority of the other Member State has confirmed that the document is valid and authentic. In cases referred to in the first subparagraph, the competent authorities of the other Member State responsible for EPC applications (or other relevant national bodies of other Member State registered in IMI) shall cooperate and respond without delay to any requests for information from the competent authority of the home Member State. 4. Prior to certifying the authenticity and validity of the document issued and uploaded in the IMI pursuant to Article 11(1) of this Regulation, the competent authority of the home Member State shall describe the contents of every document in the pre-structured fields of IMI. Where appropriate, the competent authority of home Member State shall ensure that the information describing the documents submitted by the applicant through the online tool referred to in Article 4b(1) of Directive 2005/36/EC are accurate.