Key achievements: Driver 2

Technologies

In 2025, the EPO continued its digital transformation in line with SP2028, focusing on simpler processes, modern platforms and reduced complexity, while safeguarding reliability, availability and user trust. 

Within the PGP, modern examiner and formalities tools, greater automation and integrated AI support strengthened end-to-end digital workflows and scalability, while maintaining full human responsibility for decisions. At the same time, the decommissioning of legacy systems reduced fragmentation and operational risk. 

User services and corporate capabilities evolved in parallel. Enhanced MyEPO services supported the EPO’s goal to become paperless by 2027, while improved HR and financial systems and investment in infrastructure and cybersecurity reinforced efficiency, data quality and operational excellence.

PGP pipeline

The PGP pipeline supports the EPO’s PGP. It consolidates all changes that directly affect examiners and formalities officers, covering process simplification, new tools, integration of AI assistance and the decommissioning of legacy systems. 

• Improvements to task management: The Patent Workbench (PWB)⁸ continued to develop as the central examiner working environment. Thanks to stronger integration with other tools, incoming submissions were increasingly converted into structured PWB tasks. Formalities officers experienced more extensive tool and workflow changes in 2025, with an emphasis on automation, usability and the decommissioning of legacy interfaces, such as CasexPrima⁹. The expansion of digitalised FO forms and closer integration with the PWB enabled a wider range of incoming submissions to be converted into structured tasks. This supported the automation of certain procedural steps, such as the despatch of communications, handling of annexes and (in selected cases) fully automated closure of proceedings. Manual intervention in formal administrative steps is now largely limited to exception handling, significantly reducing routine activities.
• Support for workload management: The Digital File Allocation¹⁰ was further strengthened, enhancing both examiner autonomy and managerial oversight. The introduction of pull allocation enabled authorised examiners to request new dossiers when capacity allowed, while line management retained responsibility for monitoring timeliness and workload balance. This approach was combined with manual allocation, supported by live dashboards providing up-to-date workload visibility. Together, these developments contributed to improving stock management and timeliness.
• Integration of ANSERA with examination tools and further enhancements:  Closer integration of ANSERA¹¹ with examination tools allows automated retrieval of citation information for search reports, reducing the manual workload for examiners. Prior art handling in ANSERA was further improved; for example, automatic figure rotation was applied to both new and existing documents across a corpus of around 100 million documents, avoiding manual intervention. Furthermore, ANSERA saw ergonomic improvements, particularly keyboard shortcuts and voice control. 
• Support for communication drafting: The stakeholder quality assurance panels (SQAPs) found that there is room to improve the completeness of EPO communications and the substantiation of objections and to provide a clearer, more consistent structure to communications. In response, the first version of a new, smarter communication drafter was released to pilot users, allowing for the direct reuse of information from ANSERA. This tool currently supports EP search actions and ultimately will be extended to all substantive phases across all procedures. Gradual roll-out of the new drafter will continue in 2026.
• AI-assisted minute writing for Oral Proceedings: Selected divisions piloted AI support to structure and draft minutes more efficiently. Hearings were audio-recorded and transcribed solely for this purpose, with recordings deleted once minutes were issued. In 2025, approximately 150 oral proceedings benefited from this approach, saving an estimated 15 days of examiner effort. 
• AI-generated markers for PreSearch: New AI features learned from real examiner queries help the system to suggest better and more accurate custom sets of search terms in multiple languages. In addition, figure proxy PreSearch was introduced, improving the retrieval of key technical information contained in drawings. Overall PreSearch accuracy reached approximately 72% at 80 viewed documents. 
• Explainable AI for classification support: Classification-related developments focused on improving the quality and transparency of AI-supported classification. In September, AI-generated explanations for suggested classification symbols were introduced. These provide plain language rationales and supporting passages for the suggestions made by the AI-based tool that increase confidence and auditability.
• AI assistance integrated in DFR: The pilot of DFR¹²‑AI embedded AI assistance directly into daily work, allowing examiners to analyse dossier content and ask contextual questions in natural language. DFR‑AI supports tasks such as summarisation, translation, drafting and document analysis, while maintaining full human responsibility for outcomes. All outputs require verification, and examiners and formalities officers remain fully accountable for decisions. Access to the tool will be progressively expanded in 2026.

Figure 4 – SP2028 PGP pipeline

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⁸ The Patent Workbench (PWB) is a tool used for managing various patent-related workflows and processes. It provides a single interface for all the incoming workload of the examiners, formalities officers and team managers
⁹ CasexPrima is a legacy system used by formalities officers to process and dispatch structured communications linked to patent files.
¹⁰ The Digital File Allocation (DFA) is a system for the allocation of work to examiners and formalities officers. It leverages AI and other techniques to provide the best technical match between a file and an examining division.
¹¹ ANSERA is the EPO’s integrated prior‑art search and analysis platform, enabling examiners to efficiently identify and assess relevant patent and non‑patent literature in support of high‑quality patent granting
¹² The Digital File Repository (DFR) is a digital archive storing all the relevant documents of a file, and also a tool allowing collaboration and sharing of intellectual work.

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Online User Engagement pipeline

The online user engagement pipeline focuses on enhancing the quality and transparency of the EPO’s digital services. Its goal is to strengthen user autonomy through broader self-service options and to streamline interactions with the Office across all stages of the patent lifecycle. Key developments during 2025 were:

• Legal Interactive Platform open to all MyEPO users: Opening the Legal Interactive Platform to all MyEPO users enabled them to identify relevant legal information across more than 6 000 pages of patent related legal texts from the EPO and the BoA. The platform provides access to legal information on European patent procedures through natural language queries, returning structured, source-based answers. The pilot of other AI-enabled features within MyEPO will start in 2026.  
• Improved MyEPO interface and increased self-service and digital actions: The redesigned MyEPO landing page, with changes shaped by input from user groups, reduces navigation effort and supports faster handling of daily tasks. Self-service features were expanded, aimed at empowering users and enabling closer collaboration. As such, company administrators can now create new associations directly in MyEPO, update association details and manage members without relying on external support. From October 2025, legal practitioners have also been able to join or form associations via their MyEPO profile and request their entry on the register through the same interface, simplifying this process. 
• Searchable database of professional representatives: The database enables users to find qualified representatives using multiple search criteria. By replacing the monthly publication of changes in the Official Journal, the database improves accessibility, ensures up to date and consistent information and supports more efficient identification of professional representation before the EPO. 
• B2B: Improve APIs and increase their use to support transition to MyEPO: Enhancing business-to-business application programming interfaces (B2B APIs) and promoting their increased use contributed to a smooth transition from eOLF to MyEPO. Use of APIs makes it easier to securely link MyEPO with internal IP management systems and supports automation and standardised data exchange. 
• Enhancement to the shared area and integration with back-office processes: The shared area supports real-time interaction with examiners during live consultations, enabling more open and efficient exchanges that can improve quality and reduce the need for lengthy formal correspondence. In 2025, it was enhanced with user notifications and support for PDF-based exchanges, improving transparency and ease of use. Preparatory work also progressed to extend it to additional proceedings, including PCT, in 2026.  
• Colour filings and end-to-end DocX filing: In October 2025, the EPO introduced processing of patent applications and related documents in colour to minimise errors and enhance clarity, helping to maintain a more efficient examination process. In parallel, preparation for end-to-end DocX filing moved forward ahead of entry into force in April 2026. This will enable document submission, editing and sharing in a standardised format, reducing administrative burdens, enhancing data accuracy and enabling efficient digital workflows.  
• Decommissioning of eOLF: Decommissioning eOLF marked an important step in the EPO's digital transformation by consolidating all filing activities under the state-of-the-art MyEPO platform. This shift enhanced efficiency and reduced maintenance costs, and provides users with a more intuitive, integrated filing experience. 

 

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Corporate pipeline

The corporate pipeline aims to modernise and simplify the systems supporting corporate functions, while ensuring that internal and external IT services are built on a resilient, secure and sustainable digital infrastructure. Within HR, the focus remained on improving user experience, transparency and efficiency:  

• Creation of a talent intelligence hub: The introduction of the talent intelligence hub provides a more data-driven view of employees’ skills beyond formal job profiles. This supports staff to actively manage their development, in terms of skills and career progression, and enables managers to identify skill gaps and plan targeted up and reskilling initiatives.  
• Simplification and digitalisation of HR processes: New, simple digital processes replaced manual partner registration and data maintenance, and parenthood declarations. They facilitate data exchanges between staff and HR and ensure that information remains up to date, while reducing the administrative burden on both HR professionals and staff. The upgrade to our medical case management system made progress with the self-service portal due to go live in 2026, offering enhanced features such as self-booking of appointments and secure handling of medical documentation.  
• Improvements to offboarding processes and tools: The offboarding process was enhanced through digital handling of offboarding requests and structured, predefined checklists embedded directly into HR workflows. See Driver 1 for more details. 
• Creation of a pension simulator for families and staff under the new pension scheme: The pension simulator for staff under the new pension scheme was released, enabling self-service and reducing the number of enquiries handled by HR services.  

In the areas of Finance and Procurement, new technologies enabled efficiency improvements:  

• Optimise financial closing process: The migration to the new corporate services platform (SAP S4/HANA) enabled improvements in financial transparency and predictability. Monthly financial closing processes were streamlined, and preparations progressed for the introduction of SAP Advanced Financial Closing in 2026, enabling faster, more standardised and more reliable financial processes. 
• Improve the revenue forecasting process: Revenue forecasting was further enhanced through integration of PGP data into the forecasting model, strengthening the link between operational activity and financial planning. This also enables better financial management through a deeper understanding of revenue flow, including product mix impact. 

Additionally, several improvements affected all areas of the EPO and our stakeholders: 

• Administrative Council improved workflows: The Administrative Council secretariat was provided with new online services in the Single Access Portal to improve efficiency of meeting preparation, handling registrations and reimbursements. A dedicated AI agent was created to streamline and accelerate the preparation of meeting minutes. 
• Self-service translation and drafting of certain non-confidential texts: Progress was achieved in offering self-service solutions to enable all staff to translate non-confidential text using AI-enabled translation tools and to draft documents using accurate terminology with the help of smart assistants. This allows the translation and editing teams to focus their efforts on more advanced and complex tasks. Following a pilot, the services will be made available to all staff in 2026.  
• Natural language queries for data dashboards: In parallel with the migration of the reporting tools from Tableau to PowerBI, the EPO is exploring the potential of AI assistance in data dashboards. In 2025, the first analytics dashboard supporting natural language queries was launched, covering Unitary Patent data. This allows users to generate insights using plain language rather than predefined filters or technical queries. 
• Migration to the new document management tool and legacy decommissioning: The new EPO document management platform OpenText is a modern cloud-based repository of administrative documents available to all staff. Once the EPO‑wide migration of administrative documents was completed, legacy file storage solutions were either decommissioned or substantially reduced in use, simplifying the tool landscape and strengthening information security and governance of administrative documents. 

Lastly, a number of initiatives continued to modernise the IT landscape, contributing to a simpler and more sustainable IT function that ensured high availability and a secure digital environment for the EPO: 

• Upgrade to the new SAP technology: The migration to SAP S/4HANA, the Office’s new cloud-based platform, established a more integrated, scalable and future-proof digital landscape. The move improved data consistency across HR, finance, procurement and related corporate processes, enabling faster and more reliable reporting while reducing system complexity through the decommissioning of obsolete functions. It also laid the groundwork for the integration of future advanced and AI-enabled functionalities.  
• Wi-Fi 6 running in Berlin: The modern wireless technology provides faster data transfer speeds, increased capacity, improved power efficiency and better performance in environments with many connected devices in our new rented building in Berlin.  
• Decommissioning of the legacy legal case management tool: A new case management solution is being prepared to support the work of legal professionals, bringing improvements in efficiency and oversight. Following the planned roll-out in 2026, the legacy tool (MatterSphere) will be decommissioned.  
• Decommissioning of legacy technologies: In line with SP2028 priorities, legacy technologies were progressively phased out in favour of modern alternatives. Following the Office‑wide implementation of the new document management system OpenText, Lotus Notes¹³ was decommissioned. Within the financial management domain, the decommissioning of PGVal marked an important step in modernising the post-grant IT landscape, as well as gradual decommissioning of VMware¹⁴ which enables the optimisation of data centre capacity.

Figure 6 – SP2028 Corporate pipeline

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¹³ Lotus Notes is a legacy enterprise platform developed by IBM that provided email, calendaring and document-centric applications and was widely used for document management.
¹⁴ VMWare is a software allowing installation of a virtual operating system within any operating system, which supports efficient use of IT infrastructure and application performance.

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Driver 2 key performance indicators

 

KPIs under the Technologies driver showed substantial progress in 2025, with two out of five already meeting the long-term SP2028 targets.

Thanks to continuous investments in state-of-the-art tools, ongoing decommissioning of old legacy tools and diligent problem management, the KPIs for internal and external availability of IT systems remained consistently well above target in 2025. As a result, the SP2028 targets have been increased in 2026 to remain challenging. 

The progress made in the transformation and simplification of our processes, as described above, is also reflected in the relevant KPIs. With 100% of PGP processes already digitalised since June 2024, focus turned to the digitalisation of patent administration processes, with a KPI that has shown steady progress since its introduction at the beginning of 2025 to finish the year at 32.1%. On the corporate side, the KPI assessing the level of digitalisation of processes in HR, Finance, General Administration and other corporate areas made continued progress throughout 2025, reaching 78.1% at year-end.

The percentage of classification tasks that do not require human intellectual classification fluctuated around the 46%-47% mark throughout the year. The efforts to ensure high-quality, efficient and accurate AI-supported classification continue, to push the KPI "Leverage AI" towards the 2028 target of 90%.

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