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).

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.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015 Read the Instructions To Candidates before going to the EQE 2016

A number of candidates seem unfamiliar with the Regulations on the EQE (REE), and in particular with the Instructions to candidates concerning the conduct of the EQE.

In 2015, there were some breaches of the REE with unfortunate consequences:

• Many candidates add names or initials to their answer paper – this is very disruptive to the EC’s because it has to be manually removed before marking to preserve anonymity.
• A candidate wrote the complete answer on the blank (back) sides of the EQE paper. After copying the sheets, only blank pages were submitted for marking, and the candidate was awarded 0 points. So only write on the lined side of the EQE paper provided. 
• A candidate kept writing after the stop signal was given, even after being warned. The EB decided to subtract 5 points for this breach of the rules. In future, writing after the stop signal may be more strictly enforced. 
• Some candidates were surprised that they were not permitted to have their phones with them. The rules concerning electronic devices are strict – candidates may not take any device, such as a telephone, tablet or smart watch, into the examination hall - even if turned off. They should be left at home or in the hotel. Although some examination centers may provide an envelope or lockers, these can be limited in number and should not be relied on.

Don't be surprised: read the latest version of the REE (found on the EPO’s EQE page here).