Rule 76

(1) Legal practitioners and professional representatives entered on the list maintained by the Office pursuant to Article 89(2) (now article 92, ippt.eu) of the Regulation shall file with the Office a signed authorisation for insertion in the files only if the Office expressly requires it, or where there are several parties to the proceedings in which the representative acts before the Office, if the other party expressly asks for it.

(2) [deleted, editor IP-PorTal]

(3) The authorisation may be filed in any official language of the Community. It may cover one or more applications or registered trade marks or may be in the form of a general authorisation authorisingauthorising the representative to act in respect of all proceedings before the Office to which the person giving the authorisation is a party.

(4) Where it is required, pursuant to paragraphs 1 or 2, that a signed authorisation be filed, the Office shall specify a time limit within which such authorisation shall be filed. If the authorisation is not filed in due time, proceedings shall be continued with the represented person. Any procedural steps other than the filing of the application taken by the representative shall be deemed not to have been taken if the represented person does not approve them within a period specified by the Office. The application of Article 88(2) of the Regulation shall remain unaffected.

(5) Paragraphs 1 to 3 shall apply mutatis mutandis to a document withdrawing an authorization.

(6) Any representative who has ceased to be authorized shall continue to be regarded as the representative until the termination of his authorization has been communicated to the Office.

(7) Subject to any provisions to the contrary contained therein, an authorization shall not terminate vis-à-vis the Office upon the death of the person who gave it.

(8) Where the appointment of a representative is communicated to the Office, the name and the business address of the representative shall be indicated in accordance with Rule 1(1)(e). Where a representative acts before the Office who has already been appointed, he shall indicate his name and preferably the identification number attributed to him by the Office. Where several representatives are appointed by the same party, they may, notwithstanding any provisions to the contrary in their authorisations, act either jointly or singly.

(9) The appointment or authorisation of an association of representatives shall be deemed to be an appointment or authorisation of any representative who practices within that association.