Calendars for EQE 2022
In the past, calendars were provided to candidates as part of the D and Pre-Exam papers. Those integrated calendars did not necessarily cover all EPO closing days. This meant that some days, on which the EPO filing offices were actually closed (e.g., bridging days), were not always indicated as closing days in the exam calendars. Candidates had to answer the papers solely on the basis of the calendars in the examination papers (see former Notice from the Examination Board dd 18 July 2013).
For EQE 2022, the situation will be different, as candidates and tutors that use Wiseflow for the Mocks currently available may already have spotted. Instead of a calendar, Wiseflow provides a pdf with information about the calendars indicating:
For the EQE 2022 the basis for calculating time limits are the days on which the EPO filing offices are closed as published in the Official Journal. Candidates are encouraged to have the closing days of 2020, 2021 and 2022 at hand during the examination. No calendars will be provided with the examination papers.
Calendars are a necessary tool for calculating time limits, in particular where Rule 134(1) EPC, first sentence, applies. According to this provision, time limits expiring on a day on which at least one EPO filing office is not open for receipt of documents (closing day) are extended until the first day thereafter on which all the filing offices are open for receipt of documents and on which ordinary mail is delivered.As of the 2022 examination, the practice concerning calendars will change: calendars will no longer be provided to candidates as part of the examination papers for the pre-examination and Paper D.A notice listing the dates on which the EPO filing offices are closed is published each year in the Official Journal. For the purposes of applying Rule 134(1), first sentence, EPC and Rule 80.5 PCT, candidates should refer to the relevant notice on EPO closing days. They will be able to access the EPO website for this during the exam.
Candidates are allowed to use their own calendar to identify dates falling on a Saturday or Sunday.This notice supersedes the notice from the Examination Board dated 18 July 2013 concerning the use of calendars.
Closing dates 2020: Notice from the President of the European Patent Office dated 14 November 2019 concerning the days on which EPO filing offices are closed in 2020” (OJ 2019, A97) plus amendment by OJ 2020, A56 (EPO also closed 22 May 2020)
Closing dates 2022: Notice of the President of the European Patent Office dated 11 November 2021 concerning the days on which EPO filing offices are closed in 2022 (OJ 2021, A85)
Note: you will need another document to know which days are Saturdays and Sundays. We show the weekends in the calendars for 2020-2022 below. Alternatively, you can use the calendars in our Q&A books for that ("L-book", "P-book", "D-book"). But note that the lists of EPO closure dates provided with the calendars in our Q&A books are based on the original exam calendars and do not necessarily include all EPO closure dates, e.g., no bridging days. Also, the notices of 2021 and 2022 include International Women's Day (8 March) and a different date for Corpus Christi than the calendars in our Q&A books.
Thanks for the post!
ReplyDeleteDo you know by any case if the R134(2) exceptions (Covid, natural catastrophes...) should be taken as well into account for the exam in the calculation of periods (if nothing is given in the question)?
The whole OJ is part of the syllabus, so strictly speaking yes.
DeleteBut the extension of the periods of the 2020-Notices (OJ 2020, A29, A43, A60) to that effect have all expired on 2 June 2020 (OJ 2020, A74) - that seems to be too long to be a subject of an EQE 2022 question. To date no new notices have been published in the OJ.
If a new notice would be published, this is after 31.10.2020, the cut-off date fro the legal syllabus of EQE 2022, so in my opinion those would not need to be considered.
But as you indicated, with something in the question, a situation like that may be referred to or created, and item 2 of OJ 2020, A74 (Rule 134(5) EPC: safeguard in the case of non-observance of a time limit as a result of a dislocation in the delivery or transmission of mail caused by an exceptional occurrence affecting the locality where an applicant, a party or their representative resides or has his place of business), item 3 of OJ 2020, A74 (R.134(5) EPC any document received late will be deemed to have been received in due time if the person concerned offers evidence that on any of the ten days preceding the day of expiry of a period, it was not possible to observe the time limit due to this exceptional occurrence and that the mailing or the transmission was effected at the latest on the fifth day after the end of the disruption), or item 5 (Rule 82quater.1 PCT: where the interested party offers satisfactory evidence that a time limit under the PCT was not met due to natural calamity or other like reason in the locality where the interested party resides, has his place of business or is staying, and that the relevant action was taken as soon as reasonably possible (and no later than six months after expiry of the time limit in question), the delay in meeting the time limit is excused) may apply, as may be a situation under R.134(2), first sentence, where the state concerned is not the state where the EPO is located (If a period expires on a day on which there is a general dislocation in the delivery or transmission of mail in a Contracting State, the period shall extend to the first day following the end of the interval of dislocation for parties which are resident in the State concerned or have appointed representatives with a place of business in that State.)
Thank you for the fast reply!
DeleteIt is much clearer now, thanks also for the nice blog.
Thank you
DeleteThe days on which EPO filing offices are closed in 2022 ere not yet published in the OJ EPO before October 31, 2021.
ReplyDeleteHow can they be part of the syllabus if they are not given in the paper?
The calendar is not a legal text, and therefore not part of the syllabus. It is only a tool.
DeleteHowever, if you want to stick rigidly to using only documents published on or before 31.10.2021, be aware of your inability to correctly calculate time limits in 2022.
https://www.epo.org/law-practice/legal-texts/official-journal/president-notices/archive/20211111.html
Sorry, don't agree: the closure dates are in "Notice of the President of the European Patent Office dated 11 November 2021 concerning the days on which EPO filing offices are closed in 2022". So it is a legal text.
Delete"candidates should refer to the relevant notice on EPO closure days"
DeleteSo, marks will be given for citing the relevant OJ EPO as legal basis!
You are always given a calendar showing closing days as part of the exam set of papers. This calendar does not necessarily correspond to the official calendar published in the OJ, so for exam purposes you should always use the calendar provided to you with the exam.
DeleteHi Kristian,
DeleteThe Notice from the Examination Board indicates that you will NOT ANYMORE get calendars showing closing days as part of the exam set of papers!! You will NOT get any calendars.
The Notice also explicitly indicates that the earlier Notice of 2013 has been superseded.
Thus, the exam situation is now that you NEED the official closure dates as published in the OJ, supplemented with your own overview as to which days are Sat and Sun in 2020/2021/2022 - see the OJ references in the blog post above.
Also note that the earlier "Information on the schedule for the EQE 2022 examination papers" of 25 June 2021 indicated for paper D that "Candidates will be allowed to print only the calendar. For that purpose, the calendar will be made available well in advance before the start of paper D."
DeleteThat document however also indicated in the first paragraph that "Candidates are advised that this document may be subject to minor changes as testing continues.", so that the present Notice may be considered to supersede this aspect of the "Information ..." document of 25 June 2021.
To Anonymous23 November 2021 at 16:20
DeleteThat's a notice; it's not a calendar.
You will still have to go and physically create your own calendar for 2022 (and 2020 & 2021!); otherwise you will have no idea which dates were Saturdays and Sundays, and you will get many time limits wrong.
The Notices provide the legal basis that the EPO is closed on all Saturdays and Sundays in each of the respective years.
DeleteOJ EPO 2021, A4: 2. In 2021, as hitherto, the EPO's filing offices in Munich, The Hague and Berlin will be closed for the receipt of documents on every Saturday and Sunday.
I stand corrected! My apologies for giving outdated information.
DeleteDoes this now mean that the EPO is closed over the entire christmas period for the purpose of the D exam?
ReplyDeleteFor Xmas 2021, yes. But not only for the purposes of the D exam, also in real life!
DeleteSee OJ 2021, A4: https://www.epo.org/law-practice/legal-texts/official-journal/2021/01/a4.html
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDo you think we will be expected to cite the OJ publication each time a calculated date falls on a closed day for that respective year, along with R134(1) EPC?
ReplyDeleteOr will R134(1) EPC suffice? Thanks!
The Notice says:
Delete"For the purposes of applying Rule 134(1), first sentence, EPC and Rule 80.5 PCT, candidates should refer to the relevant notice on EPO closing days."
As there is no other information, I advice to cite the relevant notice each time you use R.134(1) EPC or R.80.5 PCT. Maybe the Committee is more tolerant in the marking (which I can imagine when it relates to a Saturday and Sunday), but we do not know - so better safe than sorry.
I can't take the mock exam tonight (I have taken a mock before). Can someone please confirm that the chat function is now included in the flow? So, if we need to chat with the EPO during the exam, we can just open up a chat from the drop down? Not sure where I can find this information. I think it is called "Zen" or something like that, it is as easy as opening a chat box and typing. Thank you! \
ReplyDeleteYes, the chat function is included in the flow
DeleteThere is no zendesk anymore. Here are instructions:
To contact the invigilator use the integrated chat widget that appears in the right bottom corner of your screen once you are in the FLOWLock environment. The invigilator will also be able to contact you via this chat widget. The chat widget is only present in the first tab (editor tab) but remains active when you are on another tab.
Yes, if we need to chat with the EPO during the exam, we can just open up a chat in the right bottom corner of your screen. It is very easy. And it is working.
Delete@Mariya. Thank you very much!
DeleteSee FAQ on https://www.epo.org/learning/eqe/faq.html:
Delete"EQE online
How do I contact the support team in case of difficulties during the EQE?
To contact the invigilator, you must use the integrated chat widget that appears in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen once you are in the FLOWlock environment. Do not close the chat before you have received an answer, you can minimise the window with "-".
The invigilator can also contact you via the chat widget.
The chat widget is present in the first tab (editor tab) and remains active when you are on another tab.
If the chat widget is not available and only in emergency cases please call +49 89 2399 5155.
Communication via email will not be dealt with."
Instructions to candidates concerning the conduct of the European qualifying examination (on https://www.epo.org/learning/eqe/e-eqe.html):
Delete8. Candidates wishing to lodge a
complaint concerning the conduct of the
pre-examination or the main
examination can do so at the latest by
the end of the day on which the
examination takes place by sending an
email with a written statement of the
facts to the Examination Secretariat
(helpdesk@eqe.org) and stating their
full name and EQEReg number.
Can someone confirm that the password to enter the flow for a particular exam will be provided to us via email? Or is the password just "abc" like mocks? Sorry, this is an obvious point, but I can't find it in my notes and in the FAQ. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting question, as they announced in yesterdays webinar that there will be no e-mails for the flow to the papers
DeleteAs "abc" was used at all mock exams last year and this year and even at real exams in March, consequently "abc" shall be used again at real exams
DeleteNo info in the new Instructions for candidates https://documents.epo.org/projects/babylon/eponot.nsf/0/0EBC9DA304DF20A4C125868100424C67/$FILE/Instructions%20to%20candidates%202022.pdf
It is confirmed by today's e-mail from helpdesk - entry will be with abc
Delete1. Accessing the flows on the day of the examination
Log-on to Wiseflow as per the instructions and open the flow information page of the respective flow. The participant password for all flows of the EQE 2022 is: abc
You will not receive any emails from Wiseflow with hyperlinks to the flows.
Predictions for this year's EQE difficulty? I predict there will be no technical problems because that just can't happen again and everyone has 1 year of experience. I think the pre-exam will be a little harder (EPO does not like the pre-exam having such a high pass rate) and they know the pre-exam e-EQE has been tested once before. I think A will be harder than average as it has been easy the last two years. I think B will be easier this year because the first e-EQE B was a total disaster (not enough time, too many amendments, several independent claims, several references, and surprises like computer-implemented and TPO). I think C will be average (a little easier than last year, but not too easy). I think D will be more challenging than average because the committee is not happy that it had to relax marking and give away 25 points, it does not want a high pass rate for D (it is simply too high for the EPO's comfort). We can all say the EPO does not vary test difficulty, but given the large variation in pass rate and transition to e-EQE, it is clear there is a variation whether intentional or unintentional we will never know (candidates from year-to-year cannot vary that much).
ReplyDeleteDo we need to know closure dates for 2023?
ReplyDeleteClosing dates of national offices.
ReplyDeleteI was recommended by my contact to download the OJ:s updated with national holidays as complement. However, I don't find any such aggregated OJ publications for 2021 and 2022.
Does anyone has found the corresponding publications to:
2019 A7 (EPO and National closing days of 2019) and
2020 A9 (EPO and National closing days of 2020) ?
I don't find them for 2021 and 2022.
Best regards
Do you mean this:
ReplyDelete2019:https://www.epo.org/law-practice/legal-texts/official-journal/2019/01/a7/2019-a7.pdf
2020: https://www.epo.org/law-practice/legal-texts/official-journal/2020/01/a9/2020-a9.pdf
2021: https://www.epo.org/law-practice/legal-texts/official-journal/2021/01/a4/2021-a4.pdf
https://www.epo.org/law-practice/legal-texts/official-journal/2020/12/a139/2020-a139.pdf
https://www.epo.org/law-practice/legal-texts/official-journal/2020/10/a115/2020-a115.pdf
for 2022: https://www.epo.org/law-practice/legal-texts/official-journal/2021/11/a85/2021-a85.pdf
Thank you Mariya,
ReplyDeleteNo these OJ:s gives only the EPO closing days not the National authorities.
For the ones I posted both EPO and National holidays are combined in one and the same document.
But thanks indeed and good luck in two weeks.
The OJ citations for EPO closures in 2020/2021/2022 are in the blog post itself.
DeleteWhat about the closing dates of the IB? There could also be a difference between EPO and IB.
ReplyDeleteThat has always been the case. And has never been an issue. Most closure days are anyhow weekends, and weekends are the same in Geneva as at the EPO.
Delete