Sunday, December 17, 2023 REE for New EQE adopted by Admin Council (Updated 29/2/2024: IPREE for New EQE published)

This Thursday, 14 December 2023, the Administrative Council of the EPO adopted, unanimously, the new "Regulation on the European qualifying examination for professional representatives" (REE) for the New EQE (CA/D 25/23). The Implementing Regulations thereto are expected to be adapted by the Supervisory Board of the EQE in the coming week(s). The new REE enters into forms on 1 January 2025 and will supersede those of 2009. The new REE, together with the IPREE, contains details transitional provisions.

EQE 2024 will still be conducted under the current provisions, i.e., with a Pre-Exam and papers A, B, C and D.

The new papers of the New EQE will be gradually introduced as of 2025 (Art. 27 REE):
- a new Foundation paper in 2025,
- new Main exam papers M1 and M2 in 2026, and
- new Main exam papers M3 and M4 in 2027.

The EQEs of 2025 and 2026 will also still comprise the current A, B, C and D papers for those candidates eligible for those papers and wanting to take those (unless they have already enrolled for a New EQE paper, in which case they need to continue in the New EQE system).

For the current EQE, sitting the Pre-Exam requires a 2-year full-time supervised training period for patent attorney trainees (" including taking part in a wide range of activities pertaining to European patent applications or European patents") and 3 years for EPO examiners, and sitting the A, B, C and D papers requires 3-year full-time supervised training for patent attorney trainees and 4 yrs for examiners.
For the New EQE, the required training periods are the same for patent attorney trainees and for EPO examiners (Art. 11 REE):

- the new Foundation paper requires at least 1 yr of full-time supervised training,
- the new Main exam papers M1 and M2 requires 2 yrs of full-time supervised training, and
- the new Main exam papers M3 and M4 requires 3 yrs of full-time supervised training.

DeltaPatents will provide Foundation Integrated & Foundation Distance Learning courses to allow candidate to prepare thoroughly for the the legal part as well as the claims part of the Foundation paper of 2025 (see below).

Principles of the New EQE

According to the summary on the cover page of CA/87/23, "The reform is based on the principles of progressiveness, modularity and sustainability and follows a competence-based approach, laying the foundations for a complete redesign of the examination. The new modules draw on the framework for existing papers with a view to preserving excellence whilst fostering modernisation. The main objective remains promoting candidates who are fit for practice and further reinforcing the EQE's central importance for a well-functioning European patent system."

"The core principles of a competence-based examination, progressiveness, modularity and sustainability are embedded in the new REE (Articles 1(4), 1(5), and 20) and the corresponding rules of the IPREE (Rules 2, 6, 10, 22-26)" (item 17 of CA/87/23).

"The focus of the five modules of the new EQE gradually shifts from legal and procedural knowledge towards practical application of that knowledge. Candidates will be required to prove their professional skills and a broad range of competences
- over a three-year period or,
- should they prefer to do so, once this period has elapsed."
(item 18 of CA/87/23; formatting added).

(Figure duplicated from item 27 of CA/87/23).

"If the papers are taken in a sequential manner in accordance with the respective minimum number of years of experience described above, then all papers are mandatory.
Alternatively, according to Rule 10 IPREE, should candidates decide to take the papers in one go after having acquired the relevant minimum number of years of experience, they will be exempted from the introductory Module F [provided they pass at least i) M1 and M2 or ii) M2 and M3; also referred to as 'Freischutz' option]."
(item 30 of CA/87/23; formatting added and clarification on exemption added].

 

The exam papers of the New EQE

According to item 31-37 of CA/87/23 [some clarification (provisional information) added in square brackets]:

"31. The competence-based approach and the principle of progressiveness are embodied in the modular framework. The five modules proposed capture the elements of declarative, procedural and strategic knowledge embedded in the competences.

32. The assessment sequence begins with the testing of candidates' factual knowledge, and complex competences are not introduced until subsequent modules. Candidates can therefore focus on declarative and procedural matters before grappling with the in-depth practical tests.

33. An introductory Module F, or foundation paper F, tests declarative knowledge in procedural patent law and claim analysis (Article 1(5)(a) REE and Rule 22 IPREE). [further development of Pre-Exam; computer-marked; 2 parts of 2 hours; requires pass in both parts in one sitting]

34. Module 1, or main paper 1 [M1], assesses whether the candidate can carry out tasks relating to the analysis and assessment of information and evaluate and act on instructions from a client (Article 1(5)(b) REE and Rule 23 IPREE). [new; computer-marked and free-text; 2 x 90 minutes]

35. Module 2, or main paper 2 [M2], examines whether the candidate can apply procedural and substantive patent law of the EPC and the PCT. It assesses whether the candidate is familiar with all procedures established by the EPC and the PCT and with the procedural law (Article 1(5)(c) REE and Rule 24 IPREE). [further development of D1 part of paper D; at least half are open questions; 2 parts max 90 minutes, total 2,5-3 hours]

36. Module 3, or main paper 3 [M3], establishes whether a candidate possesses the required skills to assess and to draft and develop patent documentation and submissions. It consists of three parts, addressing the drafting of claims, the response to Office actions and opposition (Article 1(5)(d) REE and Rule 25 IPREE). [further development of papers A, B and C; free-text; 3 parts of 2-3 hours, total 7,5 hours; requires pass in all three parts in one sitting]

37. Module 4, or main paper 4 [M4], assesses the candidate's competence in advising a client and providing an answer in the form of a legal opinion responding to an enquiry (Article 1(5)(e) REE and Rule 26 IPREE)." [further development of D2 part of paper D; free-text; 2-2,5 hours]

(Figure duplicated from item 38 of CA/87/23).

"Over a period of 3 years, starting in 2025, the new modules will be progressively deployed and the present papers will be phased out. This means that 2024 will see the last edition of an entirely traditional EQE. In 2025, the new Module F will be launched and no pre-examination will be held. In 2026, the present papers and the new modules will co-exist, and in 2027 the fully-fledged new EQE modules will be in place. Furthermore, Article 25 REE establishes a detailed system of equivalence between the present papers and future modules [and transitional provisions/exemptions]." (item 45 of CA/87/23).

Art. 25 REE provides, amongst other things, that examination papers sat and passed before the entry into force of the new Regulation, i.e., before 1 January 2025, provide exemptions "if candidates have passed [one or more of the current exam papers; note that a compensable fail is not sufficient]:
(a) the pre-examination, they are exempted from sitting foundation paper F and main examination paper M1;
(b) Paper A, they are exempted from sitting part 1 of main examination paper M3;
(c) Paper B, they are exempted from sitting part 2 of main examination paper M3;
(d) Paper C, they are exempted from sitting part 3 of main examination paper M3;
(e) Paper D, they are exempted from sitting main examination papers M2 and M4."
(f)-(h) as well as in some specific situations given in Art. 25(2)(f)-(h) REE, in particular relating to candidates that passed A, B, C or D when the pre-exam did not yet exist or when no pre-exam was held in the year before they passed A, B, C or D (i.e., when they sat and passed A, B, C or D in 2021 after the cancellation of EQE 2020 incl pre-exam 2020).

Further, under Art. 25(6) REE, "candidates eligible for the pre-examination on the date of the 2025 examination will be exempt from the pre-examination". Hence, these candidates can sit the (last) ABCD papers, in 2026 without having passed a pre-examination. Note that to sit A, B, C or D in 2025, passing the Pre-Exam in 2024 (or earlier) is mandatory.

Also, under Art. 25(7) REE, "Once candidates have enrolled for a paper under this Regulation, they can no longer enrol for a paper under the Regulation of 2009." Hence, candidates that take the new foundation paper in 2025, cannot sit A, B, C or D in 2026 but need to continue in the New EQE system.

Preparation for EQE 2025

DeltaPatents will provide an extensive legal/claims analysis course for the Foundation paper of 2025, building on and replacing our current Pre-Exam Integrated and Pre-Exam Distance Learning course, but adapted for the change in syllabus, exam format and any other relevant differences between the Pre-Exam and the Foundation paper. As our Pre-Exam courses for EQE 2024 and before, our Foundation Integrated & Foundation Distance Learning courses will comprise a series of bi- or tri-weekly sessions (full days sessions on-site in NL; 1,5 hour sessions Distance via video conference; in-house on request), starting in May (provisional). These courses will be announced on our website once the new IPREE has been adopted and published. 

DeltaPatents will of course also continue to provide courses for the A, B, C and D papers of 2025.

For EQE 2026, DeltaPatents will provide courses for the Foundation Paper F, the New Main paper M1 and the new Main Paper M2 of the new EQE as well as the A, B, C and D papers of 2026.

 

For details on the new REE, please refer to Admin Council documents CA/87/23 (proposal) and CA/D 25/23 (decision). The REE for the New EQE has been published in OJ 2024, A4.

This post will be updated when the IPREE has been adopted by the Supervisory Board and the full text of the adopted IPREE are available - expected soon.

Update 19/1/2024:
The EPO and epi press releases, and the New EQE information on the EQE website, indicated that the IPREE was expected to become available in December 2023, but that has now changed into Q1 2024.

Update 29/2/2024:
The IPREE for the New EQE has been published today in OJ 2024, A25.
Further, the annoucement of EQE 2025 has been published today in OJ 2024, A26 including registration and enrolment deadlines.

Note: The information given by us in this blog and in the comments thereto below is based on our understanding of all available information. Although we believe it is correct, we cannot guarantee that is correct in full and it may contain ambiguities, errors or omissions. Neither DeltaPatents nor the author accept any liability for the correctness or completeness of the information given. If the reader believes that correction or clarification is needed, the reader is invited to contact us via email or to give a comments to this blog - it is checked regularly by us for new comments. For any formal or official information, the reader is referred to the New REE itself, the information on the EQE website, and the EQE secretariat.