Representation before the European Patent Office
The European Patent Convention, the multilateral treaty providing the legal system according to which European patents are granted, contains provisions regarding whether a natural or juristic person needs to be represented in proceedings before the European Patent Office.
General rule and exceptions
There is no general obligation for a party to be represented by a professional representative to act in proceedings before the EPO. However, a person not having either their residence or place of business within the territory of one of the EPC Contracting States "must be represented by a professional representative and act through him in all proceedings", except for filing a European patent application., point 5 Proceedings include grant proceedings, opposition proceedings, limitation and revocation proceedings, and appeal proceedings.Representation of persons who must be represented and persons who need not be represented but want to be represented must be by a professional representative, or, if the party is a "European party", the representation may be by an authorised employee or by a legal practitioner. A legal practitioner representing a party before the EPO must be qualified in an EPC Contracting State, must have his place of business in that State, and must be entitled in that State to act as a professional representative in patent matters. Both authorised employees and legal practitioners "must file a signed authorisation or a reference to a general authorisation already on file". Subject to these rules, a party has the right to be represented in the manner he chose.
Professional representatives
Professional representatives bear the title of European patent attorney. In order to be a European patent attorney, one must:- be a national of one of the EPC Contracting States ; and
- have a place of business in one of the EPC Contracting States; and
- have passed the European qualifying examination ; or
In order to sit the EQE, candidates should notably show that "they possess a university-level scientific or technical qualification." An equivalent level of scientific or technical knowledge obtained through at least ten years' experience is also considered sufficient.
Pre-examination
Starting 2012, after 2 years of related work experience, candidates can sit the pre-examination, which is a 4-hour multiple choice exam held once a year. The pre-examination assesses candidates' ability to answer legal questions and questions relating to the drafting of claims. A passing grade of 70 marks out of 100 must be achieved to be permitted to write the main exam one year later.European qualifying examination
The main European qualifying examination is a multi-day examination, comprising four papers, for each of which there is at least one exam. Due to the introduction of the pre-examination in 2012, starting 2013, three papers of the main exam are shorter than their previous formats so that the EQE now consists of the following papers:- Paper A consists in drafting claims and the introduction of a European patent application, on the basis of the fictitious letter by a client describing an invention and the related prior art.
- Paper B consists in preparing a reply to an official communication of an Examining Division raising substantive objections to a patent application, such novelty and inventive step objections. The reply is to be prepared based on fictitious instructions from a client. The problem-and-solution approach must typically be used.
- Paper C consists in drafting a notice of opposition to a European patent. The exercise is based on a fictitious letter from a client, a European patent to be opposed, several documents and an EPO opposition form. For paper C also, the problem-and-solution approach must typically be used for the inventive step assessment.
- Paper D consists in a series of legal questions on the EPC and the Patent Cooperation Treaty ; and a legal case usually requiring analyzing the legal situation of a client and proposing actions to be undertaken to cope with the situation.
The marking of the Paper C of the EQE 2007, including awarding no point when candidates failed to select the "right" starting document and the blanket addition of 10 points to the grade of all C papers, was strongly criticized.
In 2021, the EQE was held online for the first time. A proposal to change the format of the EQE exams into a modular system, held online with some exams being available more than once a year, was discussed at a conference of the European Patent Institute on 21 June, 2021.