Article 69

Notice from the European Patent Office dated 16 December 2025 concerning the programme for accelerated prosecution of European patent applications ("PACE")

The notice from the EPO dated 30 November 2015 concerning the PACE programme (OJ EPO 2015, A93) is replaced by the present one, taking into account the sustained improved timeliness of the EPO in issuing the extended/partial European search report.

The EPO's successful commitment since the previous notice of 2015 to issue the extended/partial European search report for European patent applications (including PCT applications entering the European phase where the EPO did not act as (S)ISA) within six months of the filing date or of expiry of the period under Rule 161(2) EPC has allowed it to review the PACE programme and provide a more effective service.

The mean time to issue the extended/partial European search report in 2024 was five and a half months. This has enabled the EPO to include a revision of the acceleration mechanisms for European patent applications in its long-term planning as outlined in Strategic Plan 20281 (SP2028).

The achieved sustained improved timeliness for providing the extended/partial European search report supports the decision of the EPO to restrict the acceleration mechanism of the PACE programme to examination only as from 1 February 2026. The dedicated EPO Form 1005 will then only include the request for acceleration in the examination phase.

This revision is intended to help applicants make better use of the programme and to enable the EPO to process applications for which accelerated prosecution has been requested as promptly as possible.

The PACE programme will continue to enable applicants who want their applications processed rapidly to obtain the first examination report and any communication under Rule 71(3) EPC within tight deadlines.

More details of the revised PACE programme, including those specific to Euro-PCT applications, are given below.

The additional ways to expedite the European grant procedure as well as the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot programme are maintained, with information provided in the notices published in OJ EPO 2015, A94 and OJ EPO 2022, A115.

1. Accelerated examination

1. Accelerated prosecution of European patent applications occurs only on written request. Applicants are required to use the dedicated request form (EPO Form 1005), which must be filed online2. The EPO will not process requests filed informally, i.e. without using the dedicated form, or on paper.
2. A request for participation in the PACE programme (PACE request) may be filed only once during the examination stage of the procedure and for one application at a time. A PACE request for accelerated examination may be filed once the examining division becomes responsible for examining the European patent application3.
3. The EPO does not publish requests for accelerated examination and, by decision of the President dated 12 July 20074, they are excluded from file inspection.
4. An application will be removed from the PACE programme for any of the following reasons:

This applies regardless of the legal remedies available under the EPC. In such cases, it is not possible to restore the application to the PACE programme, i.e. a second request for that application will not be processed.

5. Additionally, accelerated prosecution will be suspended in the event of failure to pay renewal fees by the due date stipulated in Rule 51(1) EPC.
6. Accelerated prosecution under the PACE programme can be provided only where practically feasible and subject to the workload of examining divisions. In certain technical fields there may be constraints due to the numbers of incoming PACE requests. Applicants requesting accelerated prosecution for all or most of their applications will, as a rule, be required by the EPO to limit the number of their PACE requests by making a selection.
7. Applicants may enquire with the EPO Customer Services as to the status of an application for which a PACE request has been filed.
8. A request for participation in the PACE programme is free of charge.
9. For PCT applications entering the European phase where the EPO also acted as (S)ISA, accelerated examination can, in principle, be requested at any time, for example:

10. When accelerated examination is requested, the EPO makes every effort to issue the next office action within three months of the examining division's receipt of the application, the applicant's response under Rule 70a or 161(1) EPC or the request for accelerated examination (whichever is latest).
11. The EPO strives to produce subsequent examination communications within three months of receipt of the applicant's reply, provided that the application is still being processed under the PACE programme (see paragraph 4 above).

2. Entry into force

12. The revised PACE programme will enter into force on 1 February 2026, and its conditions will apply to PACE requests filed on or after that date.
13. Notwithstanding paragraph 12, the conditions of paragraphs 4 and 5 above concerning respectively the removal of an application from the PACE programme and the suspension of its accelerated prosecution will apply to pending applications from the entry into force of the revised programme.

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1. 1 See Strategic Plan 2028.

2. 2 The request for acceleration of the European patent application in the examination phase (EPO Form 1005) is planned to be available in MyEPO in the course of 2026. Corresponding information will be published in due course.

3. 3 See Rule 10 EPC and Guidelines for Examination in the EPO, C-II, 1.

4. 4 See Special edition No. 3, OJ EPO 2007, J.3.

5. 5 With Euro-PCT applications, the applicant can speed up entry into the European phase by expressly requesting early processing under Article 23(2) or 40(2) PCT, OJ EPO 2015, A94. However, accelerated examination in the European phase will not be performed unless requested separately under the PACE programme.