7.4 Request for PACE

A request for early processing does not automatically lead to accelerated prosecution under the PACE programme. Applicants who also want to request such accelerated prosecution of their application in the European phase must therefore submit a separate online request under the PACE programme. Accelerated examination can be requested at any time once responsibility for the application has passed to the examining division. For Euro-PCT applications for which no supplementary European search is carried out because the EPO acted as (S)ISA, accelerated examination can, in principle, be requested at any time, for example on entry into the European phase or together with any response to the WO‑ISA, IPER or SISR required under Rule 161(1) (OJ EPO 2015, A94). For more information, see E‑VIII, 4.