Friday, December 20, 2019 Tutor's Report EQE2019

The "Tutors‘ Report on the EQE 2019 Papers and the Meeting between Tutors and EQE Committees" by N. Cordes (NL), L. Ferreira (PT), A. Hards (DE), K. Hartvichova (CZ), H. Marsman (NL), S. van Rijnswou (NL), and R. van Woudenberg (NL) has been published in epi Information 4/2019.

See here for pdf (page 40 ff) and html versions.

Friday, November 29, 2019 EQE 2021 (pre-exam and main exam) announced in OJ EPO

OJ 2019, A98 comprises the Announcement of the European qualifying examination 2021 – Pre‑examination and main examination.

The Annoucement includes a lot of detail. Please refer to the original Notice for all detail. This blog post only serves to inform you on the existence of the annoucements.

A few main items from the Annoucement:

Tuesday, November 19, 2019 Updates to our L-, P- and D-books for EQE2020

In view of legal changes that only became known after our Questions and Answers books were published, which supersede and/or supplemente some of the legal references (OJ, case law) in our books, we provide three update documents on our website, for our books:

• "Basic legal Questions for Pre-Exam and Paper D" (“L-book”, edition July 2019, EQE 2020): update 15 Nov 2019
• "Pre-Exam book - Cases/Exams" (“P-book”, edition July 2019, EQE 2020): update 15 Nov 2019
• "Main-Exam Questions for Paper D" (“D-book”, edition July 2019, EQE 2020): update 15 Nov 2019

Each document comprises updates and corrections to the Introduction, the Study Guide (not in the P-book), Questions and Answers in the books in view of:

• Publications in OJ EPO after the Book was printed (OJ July 2019 – 31 Oct 2019) - incl. the new ADA/AAD (in force since 1 October 2019);
• Publications in PCT Newsletter after the Book was printed (PCT NL July 2019 – 31 Oct 2019);
• New How to Get Guide (19th edition, issued 7 October 2019, updated to 1 April 2019);
• Corrections to the questions and answers;
• Answers to referrals G 1/18 and G 2/19 (not yet in OJ).

Note that the legal syllabus is defined as valid on 31 October 2019 (Rule 2 IPREE), on which the November 2018-edition of the Guidelines GL/EPO and GL/PCT-EPO was in force.

We thank all who provided any comments and all candidates who participated in our legal training courses, as well as those that gave feedback on our material via email, for useful feedback. Any further comments are highly appreciated.

Monday, November 11, 2019 References EQE2020

For EQE 2020, the legal status on 31 October 2019 is the relevant date.

As some of the information on the various websites (EPO, WIPO/PCT) may have superseded the versions applicable on 31 October when you look for the information, we made a compilation of various legal references.

Note: We do not intend to be complete: you will not find all documents listed in the IPREE in our compilation. See Art. 13 REE and  Rule 22 IPREE for the official syllabus.

We have made 4 compilations:

1. EQE
2. EPC
3. EPO and EPC (EPO information)
4. PCT (WIPO information)

The references can be found on our website: Training--> Course links, item EQE (top right of page)

The compilations are provided as pdf-files. You may wish to print (parts of each of) them on A5-format yourself or let them be printed as an A4- or A5-size book on thinner paper by a company like pumbo.nl.

The references may be useful in addition to your standard EPC Reference books, such as Hoekstra's References to the EPC.

The 4 parts comprise:

Thursday, September 05, 2019 EQE 2020 – second phase of pilot project for writing Papers A, B, C and D on a computer

The EQE Secretariat has published a Notice on the second phase of pilot project for writing Papers A, B, C and D (EQE 2020) on a computer.

The Notice indicates that, as in the first phase, candidates sitting all 4 papers for the first time and who are prepared to write at the Munich examination centre can be considered. Interested candidates fulfilling these criteria should contact the Examination Secretariat. If there are more volunteers than available places, candidates will be selected randomly. The pilot group will type their answers in a secure environment using a text editor program consisting of basic editing features. All other rules and conditions pursuant to the EQE will apply to the pilot. For full details, refer to the Notice and to the “Technical User Manual”.

The Notice dd 30 August 2019 can be found on the EQE webpages (here) and is reproduced below:

Wednesday, July 17, 2019 The newly designed 12th edition of the Euro-PCT Guide is now available online

The newly designed 12th edition of the "Euro-PCT Guide: PCT procedure at the EPO" is now (17.0 7.2019) available online on the EPO website in HTML form and as pdf-file.

Several changes have been made to the latest edition of the Guide besides the yearly update of the information:

• The annexes have been replaced by screenshots in the text of the Guide in order to better reflect the fact that most applicants file electronically and not on paper nowadays.
• The numbering system has been modified in order to provide a better structure.
• The layout has been revised.

The Euro-PCT Guide is based on the information available on 1 January 2019. Any changes to the PCT procedures before the EPO after that date are not reflected in the information provided here. Therefore, in using this Guide, applicants should always verify in particular whether any relevant changes to the procedures have entered into force since 1 January 2019.

The PDF file reflects the printed edition of the Euro-PCT Guide and is based on the information available on 1 January 2019.

The 12th printed edition of the Euro-PCT Guide (updated to 1 January 2019) will be available at the end of August.

Up-to-date study material for EQE 2020

Our books "Basic Legal Questions for Pre-Exam and Paper D" (L-book), "Pre-Exam Cases and Exams" (P-book) and "Main Exam Questions for Paper D" (D-book), as well as our Model Solutions for the D-papers of 2014-2018, will be available shortly with references to this new 12th edition. The books and model solutions can be ordered on our webshop.

Tuesday, June 18, 2019 Results EQE 2019 available

The results from EQE 2019 have become available earlier today (18 June 2019) on the EQE webpages (here for webpage, here for table), as a table of marks for each candidate, sorted by EQE registration number.

The document with the results indicates that
"Please note that we cannot accept liability for the information concerning your examination results given [...]. Only results as notified to you in your result letter are legally binding." and that
"The result letters will be dispatched as of 1 July 2019 onwards."

Congrats to all that passed (one or more papers)!

[Update 19 June:] The Examiner's Reports are now also available.

[Update 26 June:] Statistics on the results for all papers, per residency and nationality, are now also available on the EQE webpages,

Statistics (# sitters, pass rates, average, max score) and comparison with previous years

 

The distribution of marks for the EQE 2019 papers are shown in the graphs below:

Roel, Jessica (graphs)
(c) DeltaPatents

Thursday, February 21, 2019 Good luck to all EQE 2019 candidates!

We wish all candidates that sit one or more EQE papers next week good luck / bonne chance / gute Fahrt!

Our EQE blogs will be open for your comments and opinions w.r.t. the Pre-Exam, A, B, C and D shortly after the exams. We will post our (provisional) answers to the various papers shortly after the exam. To facilitate the discussions, we will also post copies of the papers as soon as possible after we received reasonably clean copies.

All candidates, as well as tutors who helped candidates prepare for EQE 2019, are invited to contribute to the discussions on our EQE blogs! You can post your comments in English, French or German. You are invited to post your comments under your real name, but it is also possible to use a nickname.

The DeltaPatents team

Saturday, February 02, 2019 Amended and consolidated REE, IPREE and instructions to candidates

Amended and consolidated REE, IPREE and instructions to candidates have been published last Friday, February 1, in OJ 2019, Suppl 2.

The REE did not change.

The IPREE was consolidated with the earlier amendments (OJ 2017, A88) as to the legal cut-off date (changed to 31 October) and the addition on GL/PCT-EPO to Rule 22(1), and further amendments with deletion of obsolete provisions.

The Instructions were amended to further provide that:
 - candidates are not permitted to bring scissors with blades longer than 6 cm (as measured from the fulcrum); therefore to cut out parts of the examination paper, only blunt-tipped scissors with a blade length of no more than 6 cm are allowed;
-  Only for the Pre-Exam: the end of the paper will be announced ten minutes before the closing signal. (For the Main Exam papers: The end of the paper will be announced five minutes before the closing signal.)

OJ 2019, Suppl 2 also include the Decision from the Supervisory Board of 17 Nov 2016 granting candidates 30 minutes extra for each main exam paper (not for the pre-exam), that was published.

Monday, January 28, 2019 Pilot at EQE 2019 – pilot project for writing Papers A, B, C and D on a computer

Last Friday, it was announced on the EQE website that:

"Several measures to modernise the EQE are currently being considered. In this framework it has been decided to run a pilot project allowing a small group of candidates to write the 2019 Papers A, B, C and D on a computer. Fifteen candidates sitting all four main examination papers in Munich will be randomly chosen and asked if they would like to volunteer to participate in the pilot. The pilot group can type their answers in a secure environment using a text editor program consisting of basic editing features. All other rules and conditions pursuant to the EQE will apply to the pilot.
The primary objective of the pilot is to gain experience in answering the EQE papers on a computer and to identify both the challenges and benefits. The outcome of the pilot should enable an informed choice regarding the potential to expand gradually to a wider group"

See here for the official announcement.

Tuesday, January 15, 2019 Calendars for Pre-examination and Paper D 2019 are available

Calendars for Pre-examination and Paper D 2019 are now available via links on the EQE webpage:

• Pre-Exam calendars are here (2018-2019)
• Paper D calendars are here (2017-2019)

Calendars are in the same format as the previous years. Normal weekends and national holidays are shown; no bridging dates.

Remember to use the calendars provided with the paper at the EQE itself (as they are provided now). Do not use the closure dates given in the OJ EPO, which include several bridging dates!