CHAPTER XU.K.TIME LIMITS
Article 56U.K.Calculation of time limits
1.Time limits shall be laid down in terms of full years, months, weeks or days.
2.The beginning of any time limit shall be calculated starting on the day following the day on which the relevant event occurred, the event being either a procedural step or the expiry of another time limit. Where that procedural step is a notification, the event considered shall be the receipt of the document notified, unless otherwise provided.
3.Where a time limit is expressed as one year or a certain number of years, it shall expire in the relevant subsequent year in the month having the same name and on the day having the same number as the month and the day on which the relevant event occurred. Where the relevant month has no day with the same number the time limit shall expire on the last day of that month.
4.Where a time limit is expressed as one month or a certain number of months, it shall expire in the relevant subsequent month on the day which has the same number as the day on which the relevant event occurred. Where the day on which the relevant event occurred was the last day of a month or where the relevant subsequent month has no day with the same number the time limit shall expire on the last day of that month.
5.Where a time limit is expressed as one week or a certain number of weeks, it shall expire in the relevant subsequent week on the day having the same name as the day on which the relevant event occurred.
Article 57U.K.Duration of time limits
1.Where Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 or this Regulation provide for a time limit to be specified by the Office, such time limit shall, when the party concerned has its domicile or its principal place of business or an establishment within the Community, be not less than one month, or, when those conditions are not fulfilled, not less than two months, and no more than six months.
The Office may, when this is appropriate under the circumstances, grant an extension of a time limit specified if such extension is requested by the party concerned and the request is submitted before the original time limit expires.
2.Where there are two or more parties, the Office may make the extension of a time limit subject to the agreement of the other parties.
Article 58U.K.Expiry of time limits in special cases
1.If a time limit expires on a day on which the Office is not open for receipt of documents or on which, for reasons other than those referred to in paragraph 2, ordinary mail is not delivered in the locality in which the Office is located, the time limit shall extend until the first day thereafter on which the Office is open for receipt of documents and on which ordinary mail is delivered.
The days on which the Office is not open for receipt of documents shall be determined by the President of the Office before the commencement of each calendar year.
2.If a time limit expires on a day on which there is a general interruption or subsequent dislocation in the delivery of mail in a Member State or between a Member State and the Office, the time limit shall extend until the first day following the end of the period of interruption or dislocation, for parties having their residence or registered office in the State concerned or who have appointed representatives with a place of business in that State.
In the event of the Member State concerned being the State in which the Office is located, the first subparagraph shall apply to all parties.
The period referred to in the first subparagraph shall be as determined by the President of the Office.
3.Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the time limits provided for in Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 or this Regulation in the case of transactions to be carried out with the competent authority within the meaning of Article 35(1)(b) and (c) of Regulation (EC) No 6/2002.
4.If an exceptional occurrence such as natural disaster or strike interrupts or dislocates the proper functioning of the Office so that any communication from the Office to parties concerning the expiry of a time limit is delayed, acts to be completed within such a time limit may still be validly completed within one month of the notification of the delayed communication.
The date of commencement and the end of any such interruption or dislocation shall be as determined by the President of the Office.