1.The Office shall be a body of the Community. It shall have legal personality.
2.In each of the Member States, the Office shall enjoy the most extensive legal capacity accorded to legal persons under their laws. It may, in particular, acquire or dispose of movable and immovable property and may be a party to legal proceedings.
3.The Office shall be represented by its President.
4.With the consent of the Administrative Council referred to in Article 36, the Office may entrust national agencies with the exercise of specific administrative functions of the Office or establish its own sub-offices for that purpose in the Member States, subject to their consent.
1.The Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities, the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities and the rules adopted jointly by the institutions of the European Communities for purposes of the application of those Staff Regulations and Conditions of Employment shall apply to the staff of the Office, without prejudice to the application of Article 47 to the members of the Board of Appeal.
2.Without prejudice to Article 43, the powers conferred on the appointing authority by the Staff Regulations, and by the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, shall be exercised by the Office in respect of its own staff.
The Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Communities shall apply to the Office.
1.The contractual liability of the Office shall be governed by the law applicable to the contract in question.
2.The Court of Justice of the European Communities shall have jurisdiction to give judgment pursuant to any arbitration clause contained in a contract concluded by the Office.
3.In the case of non-contractual liability, the Office shall, in accordance with the general principles common to the laws of the Member States, make good any damage caused by its departments or by its servants in the performance of their duties.
4.The Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction in disputes relating to compensation for the damage referred to in paragraph 3.
5.The personal liability of its servants towards the Office shall be governed by the provisions laid down in the Staff Regulations or Conditions of Employment applicable to them.
1. Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (1) shall apply to documents held by the Office.
2. The Administrative Council shall adopt the practical arrangements for implementing Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 within six months of entry into force of Council Regulation (EC) No 1650/2003 of 18 June 2003 amending Regulation (EC) No 2100/94 on Community plant variety rights (2) .
3. Decisions taken by the Office pursuant to Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 may form the subject of a complaint to the Ombudsman or of an action before the Court of Justice, under the conditions laid down in Articles 195 and 230 of the Treaty respectively.]
Textual Amendments
1.The provisions laid down in Regulation No 1 of 15 April 1958 determining the languages to be used in the European Economic Community(3), shall apply regarding the Office.
2.Applications to the Office, the documents required to process such applications and all other papers submitted shall be filed in one of the official languages of the European Communities.
3.Parties to proceedings before the Office as specified in the implementing rules pursuant to Article 114, shall be entitled, to conduct written and oral proceedings in any official language of the European Communities with translation and, in the case of hearings, simultaneous interpretation, at least into any other of the official languages of the European Communities chosen by any other party to proceedings. The exercise of these rights does not imply specific charges for the parties to proceedings.
4.The translation services required for the functioning of the Office are in principle provided by the Translation Centre of the Bodies of the Union.
1.Decisions of the Office shall, provided they do not have to be made by the Board of Appeal pursuant to Article 72, be taken by or under the authority of the President of the Office.
2.Subject to paragraph 1, decisions pursuant to Articles 20, 21, 29, 59, 61, 62, 63, 66 or 100 (2) shall be taken by a Committee of three members of the Office's staff. The qualifications of the members of such Committee, the powers of individual members in the preparatory phase of the decisions, the voting conditions and the role of the President in respect of such Committee shall be determined in the implementing rules pursuant to Article 114. Otherwise, the members of such Committee, in making their decisions, shall not be bound by any instructions.
3.Decisions of the President, other than those specified in paragraph 2, if not taken by the President, may be taken by a member of the Office's staff to whom the power to do so has been delegated pursuant to Article 42 (2) (h).
Textual Amendments