Changes To The Guidelines For Examination

The Guidelines for Examination provide general instructions on the various aspects of examination of European applications and patents. Although the content of the Guidelines is not legally binding the Guidelines are nevertheless very heavily relied upon by examiners. A revised version of the Guidelines applies as from 1 November 2017 and a large number of changes to the Guidelines have been made. In this article, we highlight some of the changes that are likely to immediately affect applicants.

Oral proceedings

Previous practice:

During the search and examination phase of a European patent an Extended European Search Report (EESR) issues, followed (if deemed necessary by the EPO) by a number of examination reports. The EESR includes a search opinion in which any objection that may be raised in an examination report can also be raised. In effect the search opinion that accompanies the EESR has the look and feel (and arguably also the effect) of a full examination