Article 74

1.  Employees who represent natural or legal persons within the meaning of Article 119(3) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001, as well as legal practitioners and professional representatives entered on the list maintained by the Office pursuant to Article 120(2) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001, shall file a signed authorisation with the Office for insertion in the files pursuant to Article 119(3) and Article 120(1) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 only where the Office expressly requires it or where there are several parties to the proceedings in which the representative acts before the Office and the other party expressly asks for it.

2.  Where it is required, pursuant to Article 119(3) or Article 120(1) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001, that a signed authorisation be filed, such an authorisation may be filed in any official language of the Union. It may cover one or more applications or registered trade marks or may be in the form of a general authorisation authorising the representative to act in respect of all proceedings before the Office to which the person giving the authorisation is a party.

3.  The Office shall specify a time limit within which such an authorisation shall be filed. Where the authorisation is not filed in due time, proceedings shall be continued with the represented person. Any procedural steps taken by the representative other than the filing of the application shall be deemed not to have been taken if the represented person does not approve them within a time limit specified by the Office.

4.  Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall apply mutatis mutandis to a document withdrawing an authorisation.

5.  Any representative who has ceased to be authorised shall continue to be regarded as the representative until the termination of that representative's authorisation has been communicated to the Office.

6.  Subject to any provisions to the contrary contained therein, an authorisation shall not automatically cease to be valid vis-à-vis the Office upon the death of the person who gave it.

7.  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 Article 2(1)(e) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/626. Where a representative who has already been appointed appears before the Office, that representative shall indicate the name and the identification number attributed to the representative 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.

8.  The appointment or authorisation of an association of representatives shall be deemed to be an appointment or authorisation of any representative who practises within that association.