New Guidelines for Examination 2022 enter into force

1 March 2022  

The EPC and PCT-EPO Guidelines 2022, published in preview mode a month ago, entered into force today, superseding the editions of March 2021.  

The new EPC and PCT-EPO Guidelines are published in the three official languages on the EPO website where they can be downloaded free of charge in PDF format or accessed section-by-section in HTML format. The PDF versions consist of a "clean copy" as well as a version showing all modifications. Within each section of the HTML version, comparison with the previous version can be made by ticking the Show modifications box in the top right-hand corner of the web page. A full list of the sections which have been amended, together with corresponding hyperlinks, is published alongside the corresponding Guidelines. 

A public user consultation on the 2022 edition of the Guidelines is already underway and will run until 15 April 2022. Users are encouraged to file their comments through the dedicated webform. The anonymised comments will be discussed within the SACEPO Working Party on Guidelines in May 2022. 

Further information:

• Notice from the European Patent Office dated 16 December 2021 concerning the updating of the Guidelines for Examination in the European Patent Office (OJ EPO 2022, A10)
• Notice from the European Patent Office dated 16 December 2021 concerning the updating of the Guidelines for Search and Examination at the European Patent Office as PCT Authority (PCT-EPO Guidelines) (OJ EPO 2022, A11)
• Guidelines for Examination in the European Patent Office
• Guidelines for Search and Examination at the EPO as PCT Authority
• Comment on the latest EPC or PCT-EPO Guidelines
• Guidelines annual revision cycle
• Talk Innovation - the EPO's podcast channel