Article 5
Citation: OJ EPO 2025, A5
Online publication date: 31.1.2025
EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE
Information from the EPO
Notice from the European Patent Office dated 3 December 2024 concerning the updating of the Guidelines for Search and Examination at the European Patent Office as PCT Authority (PCT-EPO Guidelines)
By decision of the President of the EPO dated 3 December 2024 and pursuant to Article 10(2) EPC, the Guidelines for Search and Examination at the European Patent Office as PCT Authority (PCT-EPO Guidelines) have been amended in line with the EPO's policy to provide an annual update. The amended PCT-EPO Guidelines, which enter into force on 1 April 2025, will be published as a complete April 2025 edition that will supersede the March 2024 edition.
The April 2025 edition of the PCT-EPO Guidelines will be issued in electronic form only and will be available in all three official languages on the EPO website at epo.org.
The PCT-EPO Guidelines will be available as PDF files – one clean version and one version showing all modifications – and as a HTML file. Within each section of the HTML file, the latest amendments can be viewed by selecting the Show modifications checkbox in the upper-right corner. A full list of the sections which have been amended, together with corresponding hyperlinks, will also be available.
As a courtesy service, a preview of the English version will be made available on the EPO website at the beginning of February for advance information.
The major changes to the PCT-EPO Guidelines relate to the decommissioning of fax and web-form filing, the MyEPO Portfolio service and electronic notification. In addition, there is clarification of time-limit calculations and electronic fee-payment methods. Also, relevant content from the Euro-PCT Guide has been incorporated into the PCT-EPO Guidelines.
Once the preview version is published, the EPO will launch an online user consultation on the new Guidelines. Detailed information about this consultation, which will run until mid-April 2025, will be published on the EPO website at the beginning of February 2025.