News

Reform of the BoA approved by the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation

The Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation held its 148th meeting on 29th and 30th June 2016 in Munich.

Dear epi Students,

The deadline for enrolling for the pre-examination of the EQE 2017 expires tomorrow (2nd June, 2016). You cannot rely on your status as an epi student for this enrollment.
You must enroll via to EPO website {target=_blank} and must provide the EPO with all required documents and pay the required fee to the EPO on or before the 2nd June, 2016.

This is to inform you about the decision of the EQE Supervisory Board (SB) which entered into force on 1 April 2016 implementing a compulsory early registration procedure for candidates who intend to enroll for the first time for the EQE.

Publication of the draft by EPLAW, EPLIT and epi
According to Rule 290(2) of (the 18th draft of) the Rules of Procedure of the Unified Patent Court (“RoP UPC”), representatives who appear before the Court shall strictly comply with any code of conduct adopted for such representatives by the Administrative Committee. European Patent Attorneys with specific qualifications will be able to represent parties before the UPC under Article 48(2) of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court.

On 19th April, a delegation from the epi headed by the President Tony Tangena met with a delegation from the EPO headed by the EPO President Benoît Battistelli. The meeting was held as part of the ‘Quality for Partnership’ program, a continuous dialogue between the epi and the EPO by means of which both organizations exchange their views and update each other on quality matters.