The Office shall keep the files of any procedure relating to an EU trade mark application or
EU trade mark registration. The Executive Director shall determine the form in which
those files shall be kept.
Where the files are kept in electronic format, the electronic files, or back-up copies thereof,
shall be kept indefinitely. The original documents filed by parties to the proceedings, and
forming the basis of such electronic files, shall be disposed of after a period following their
reception by the Office, which shall be determined by the Executive Director.
Where and to the extent that files or parts of the files are kept in any form other than
electronically, documents or items of evidence constituting part of such files shall be kept
for at least five years from the end of the year in which the application is rejected or
withdrawn or is deemed to be withdrawn, the registration of the EU trade mark expires
completely pursuant to Article 53, the complete surrender of the EU trade mark is
registered pursuant to Article 57, or the EU trade mark is completely removed from the
Register pursuant to Article 64(6) or 128(6).