[I would be interested on any comments on the issue whether or not
this technical concept is really *sound* from computer security view;
see the spec link indicated below. --AHH]
http://www.european-patent-office.org/epo/president/e/2000_12_07_e.htm
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Decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 7
December 2000 on the electronic filing of European patent
applications and subsequent documents
The President of the European Patent Office (EPO), having regard to
Rules 24(1), 27a, 35(2), 36(5), 77(2)(d) and 101 EPC, having regard
to the basic requirements to be fulfilled by any electronic record,
namely
(a) authenticity - ie confirmation that a document is what it
purports to be, and was authored by the person who purports to have
done so,
(b) integrity - ie consistency of the data and, in particular,
detecting and preventing its unauthorised alteration or destruction,
(c) confidentiality - ie ensuring that a document's existence or
content is not disclosed to unauthorised persons, and
(d) non-repudiation - ie ensuring that the sender (with the
recipient's co-operation) has reliable evidence that the data has
been delivered, and that the recipient has reliable evidence of the
identity of the sender, so that neither party can successfully deny
sending or receiving the data and a third party can verify its
integrity and origin,
having regard to the basic standards of electronic records
management, namely that
[...]
Article 17 Entry into force
This decision shall enter into force on 8 December 2000.
Done at Munich, 7 December 2000.
Ingo KOBER President
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For the gory technical details, see
http://db1.european-patent-office.org/dwl/epoline/epo-olf-standard.pdf
