European qualifying examination (EQE)

Information about the European qualifying examination available here.

Enrolment

Compulsory registration

Enrolment to the pre-examination will only be open for candidates who have registered at the latest by 15 January of the year in which they intend to enrol for the pre-examination.

See notice of the Examination Secretariat.

Enrolment periods

1. Pre-examination 1 March 2021

Candidates may enrol as from 3 February 2020. Applications must be submitted no later than 11 May 2020 via the EPO web portal. For a first time enrolment to the pre-examination candidates must have registered at the latest by 15 January 2020. Candidates who have previously been admitted to the pre-examination are already registered.

2. Main examination 2 to 4 March 2021 (Papers A, B, C and D)

Please be informed that enrolment to the main examination 2021, which was due to start on 1 April 2020, has been postponed until 4 May 2020.

Candidates may enrol as from 1 April 2020. Applications must be submitted no later than 17 August 2020 via the web portal.

For more details, for example on payment of fees, withdrawal, enrolment process, required period of professional activity (patent attorney trainees; EPO examiners), choice of papers, fees and fee subsidies, examination centers, etc , refer to OJ 2019, A98 and to the EQE website.

Notice

Supervisory Board

Decision of the Supervisory Board dated 19 February 2021 code of conduct for the e-EQE
Decision of the Supervisory Board dated 20 April 2020 cancellation of the EQE (PDF, 91 KB)
Communication from the Supervisory Board dated 20 April 2020 regarding cancellation of the EQE 2020 (PDF, 126 KB)

Examination Board

Pre-examination - new instructions and new marking scheme
Legal texts and document versions for the EQE 2021 (PDF, 116 KB)
Abolition of opposition form (PDF, 16 KB)
Distribution of points Paper D (PDF, 20 KB)
Use of calendars in Paper D and Pre-examination (PDF, 14KB)

Examination Dates

Further information will follow if available.

Supervisory Board, Examination Board, Examination Committees and Examination Secretariat

List of members (PDF, 114 KB)

Examination Committees

Notice of the Examination Board (Examination Committees are looking for new members (PDF, 25 KB)
Application Form (PDF, 207 KB)

Downloads

Announcement of the European qualifying examination 2021 (PDF, 192KB)
Regulation on the European qualifying examination for professional representatives - Supplementary publication 2 - Official Journal EPO 2019 (PDF, 309 KB)
Certificate of training and employment (PDF, 703 KB)

If you have questions about the EQE or the Regulation on the EQE, please get in touch with the Examination Secretariat of the European Patent Office

Email: eqe@epo.org
Tel.: +49 89 23 99 51 55