“CPE” subcommittee

The overall main task of the CPE subcommittee is to organise Continued Professional Education for all epi members (and paralegals).
See Terms of Reference PEC 20 April 2013, B.11).
This is performed by:

• defining the content and form of CPE educational events, which may take the form of seminars, webinars, (online and in-person) workshops, videos, etc.
• overseeing the organisation of these courses, including discussions with EPO Academy on cooperation within the framework of the EPO-epi MoU
• drafting the programme with respect of places and dates, including discussion with the epi Education Team and the individual PEC members that are responsible for the local organisation of events in their country. 
• evaluation of carried out events
• as long as the UP/UPC joint working group exists, close collaboration with this working group to align the programme and organisational consequences (it is foreseen to take over the tasks of the UP/UPC joint working group)

It is further responsible for the search and selection of suitable epi speakers.

“Editorial” subcommittee

This subcommittee deals with all PEC editorial issues. It regularly updates texts in the epi website Education Section, and publishes education-related articles and announcements in "epi Information". It assists and/or cooperates with the PEC Chair in order to create content on PEC and educational activities for epi Information.
It liaises with epi’s Editorial Committee.

"Education of professional representatives’ staff" subcommitee

The main task of the Education of professional representatives’ staff (EPRS) subcommittee is to organise Education for the formalities teams supporting professional representatives, specifically including paralegals, patent administrators and formalities officers, and their preparation for the European Patent Administrator Certificate (EPAC).

This is performed by:

• defining the content and form of EPRS educational events, which may take the form of seminars, webinars, (online and in-person) workshops, videos, etc.
• overseeing the organisation of these courses,
• drafting the programme with respect of places and dates, including discussion with the epi Education Team and the individual PEC members that are responsible for specific events, such as local organisation of events in their country.
• evaluation of carried out events.

It is further responsible for the search and selection of suitable epi speakers.

“EQE” subcommittee

This subcommittee deals with the European Qualifying Examination (EQE). It monitors EQE pass rates and evaluates the results of the annual EQE candidates’ survey. It provides opinions on Examination Supervisor Board (ESB) decisions to be implemented whenever PEC is consulted by the epi ESB members. It liaises with the Examination Secretariat at the European Patent Office (EPO), which is responsible for the EQE.

“epi students and EQE candidates” subcommittee

The "epi students and EQE candidates" subcommittee should supervise the training of candidates (especially epi students). The subcommittee should monitor and update epi training options for EQE candidates, such as:

• epi homepage sections for epi students, the online forum for epi students, educational offers for epi students and EQE candidates (in collaboration with the PEC Editorial Subcommittee)
• epi Tutorials 
• epi Mock EQE 
• implementation of 3-years-training-programme guiding epi students from their beginning in the profession until sitting the EQE. This programme is currently under development. 

“epi Tutors and Coaches” subcommittee

The "epi Tutors and Coaches" subcommittee should i.a. supervise the training of epi tutors, and set up a training programme for epi tutors, a mentor programme for new tutors, organise the annual epi tutors’ meeting, and monitor the quality of our tutors.

It is further responsible for the search and selection of suitable epi Tutors and Coaches.
It advises the PEC Chair on the appointment of the CSP coordinator.

“Executive” subcommittee

This subcommittee will constantly review current PEC projects, consult regularly and decide quickly on issues on behalf of PEC,
when there is no time to consult with the whole committee.
It consists of the PEC chair, the secretary and the subcommittee and WG chairs.

“Advisory” Working Group 

According to the amended ToR (cf. item B1 e), PEC appointed dedicated members for advising the epi President in matters regarding appeals from decisions of the Examination Board (EB) or Examination Secretariat. The task of these members is to:

• advise the president as to the need to comment, and where appropriate, prepare such comments
• represent the president at oral proceedings
• provide feedback to PEC on the basis of the decisions

The confidentiality must be respected.

“UP/UPC Education” Working Group (jointly set up with the EPPC and the LitCom)

The implementation of the Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court system will significantly affect the daily work of epi members. PEC has the responsibility of providing training for epi members to prepare for the new systems.
As a result, in autumn 2013 PEC established a joint WG consisting of PEC-, EPPC- and LitCom members.

Mandatory reporting of CPE Working Group

Many of the epi members are obliged on basis of their national qualifications and membership of their national patent attorney organisations to keep up to date in the profession by following continued professional education. The working group on a mandatory CPE will investigate the possibility of having a mandatory continuous professional education duty within epi, the form of such an obligation and how this should be implemented.

IPREE/REE Working Group

There are two joint EPO/epi working groups considering changes to the IPREE/REE. A first group is making the changes necessitated by the modernisation of the EQE. A second group is considering a wider range of changes, including diversity & inclusion, registration requirements and issues relating to appeal.

To support and assist the epi members in the EPO/epi Working Groups, epi has set up the IPREE/REE working group under the umbrella of the PEC. In this support group the latest developments are discussed to obtain a wide variety of opinions from around the EQE member states.