Article 77

General principles of representation

1. Subject to paragraph 2, no person shall be compelled to be represented before the Office.
2. Without prejudice to the second subparagraph of para graph 3, natural or legal persons not having either their domi cile or their principal place of business or a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in the Community must be represented before the Office in accordance with Article 78(1) in all proceedings before the Office established by this Regulation, other than in filing an application for a registered Community design; the implementing regulation may permit other exceptions.
3. Natural or legal persons having their domicile or prin cipal place of business or a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in the Community may be repre sented before the Office by one of their employees, who must file with it a signed authorisation for inclusion in the files, the details of which are set out in the implementing regulation. An employee of a legal person to which this paragraph applies may also represent other legal persons which have economic connections with the first legal person, even if those other legal persons have neither their domicile nor their principal place of business nor a real and effective industrial or commercial estab lishment within the Community.