In April, the European Patent Office (EPO) has published a new version of the Guidelines for Examination, Unitary Patent Guidelines, and PCT-EPO Guidelines.
These Guidelines are revised to keep them up to date. A new version was published in April 2025.
The Guidelines for Examination have been modified in particular in the following sections:
- Part A Chapter III 5.6: Filing of the Order of Inventors can be filed at any time.
- Throughout the Guidelines: Reduction of fees regarding micro-entities and consequences when the companies do not comply with the eligibility criteria;
- Part D, Chapter VII 1.2 and Part E, Chapter VIII 5: Priority of Opposition Procedures in case of infringement or revocation action at the Unified Patent Court or national court or other competent authority;
- Part E, Chapter XIV 3: Clarifications regarding the registration of European patent applications;
- Part F – Chapter III – 3, Part G – Chapter II 3.3.1: Clarification regarding the sufficiency of disclosure and patentability in the field of artificial intelligence inventions;
- Part G – Chapter VII – 4 and 11: Inventive step argumentation relying on a new effect and for selection inventions; and
- Editorial changes throughout the Guidelines.
The Guidelines for Examination are available under the link https://new.epo.org/en/legal/guidelines-epc.
The Guidelines for Search and Examination at the EPO as PCT Authority have been modified in particular in the following sections:
- Formal amendments regarding the internal procedure and the filing with the EPO; in particular applications relating to nucleotide and/or amino acid sequences
- Adaptation to the Guidelines for Examination;
- Procedural clarifications of the EPO acting as PCT Authority, in particular regarding the time limits;
- How to indicate amendments; and
- Editorial changes throughout the Guidelines.
Guidelines for Search and Examination at the EPO as PCT Authority are available under the link https://www.epo.org/en/legal/guidelines-pct.
The Unitary Patent Guidelines have been published for the first time. Only a HTML version is available. They provide procedural guidance on Unitary Patent proceedings before the EPO, starting with the filing and registration of requests for unitary effect. The Unitary Patent Guide, last issued in October 2024, will largely be incorporated into the new UP Guidelines.
The Unitary Patent Guidelines are available under the link https://www.epo.org/en/legal/guidelines-up.
This article is for information purposes only and does not constitute a legal advice.