Article 67a - Continuation of proceedings

1. An applicant for, or a holder of, a registered EU design or any other party to proceedings before the Office who has not observed a time limit vis-à-vis the Office may, upon request, obtain the continuation of proceedings, provided that at the time the request is made the omitted act has been carried out. The request for continuation of proceedings shall be admissible only if it is submitted within two months of the expiry of the unobserved time limit. The request shall not be deemed to have been filed until the fee for continuation of the proceedings has been paid. 

2. Continuation of proceedings shall not be granted in the event of non-observance of the time limits laid down in: (a) Article 38, Article 41(1), Article 44(1), Article 45(3), Article 50d(3) and Article 67(2); (b) Article 68 and Article 72(5) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 in conjunction with Article 55(2) of this Regulation; (c) paragraph 1 of this Article. 

3. The department competent to decide on the omitted act shall decide upon the request for continuation. 

4. If the Office accepts the request for continuation, the consequences of having failed to observe the time limit shall be deemed not to have occurred. If a decision has been taken between the expiry of that time limit and the request for the continuation of proceedings, the department competent to decide on the omitted act shall review the decision and, where completion of the omitted act itself is sufficient, take a different decision. If, following the review, the Office concludes that the original decision does not require to be altered, it shall confirm that decision in writing. 

5. If the Office rejects the request for continuation, the fee shall be refunded.