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1. An applicant for or proprietor of an EU trade mark or any other party to proceedings before the Office who has omitted to observe 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. This Article shall not apply to the time limits laid down in Article 32, Article 34(1), Article 38(1), Article 41(2), Article 46(1) and (3), Article 53(3), Article 68, Article 72(5), Article 104(2) and Article 139, or to the time limits laid down in paragraph 1 of this Article or the time limit for claiming seniority pursuant to Article 39 after the application has been filed.

3. The department competent to decide on the omitted act shall decide upon the application.

4. If the Office accepts the application, 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 application, the fee shall be refunded.