EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE
Information from the EPO
Notice from the EPO concerning the streamlining of publications in the Official Journal
1. In line with Article 129(b) EPC, the EPO periodically publishes an Official Journal containing notices and information of a general character issued by the President of the European Patent Office (under Article 10(2)(a) EPC) and other information relevant to the EPC or its implementation. Over the years, the scope of items published in the Official Journal has expanded to include other information not covered by Article 129(b) EPC.
2. From January 2025, the publications in the Official Journal will be streamlined to focus on those laid down in Article 129(b) EPC and on other information where publication confers legal certainty on entry into force.
3. In particular, the following items will continue to be published in the Official Journal:
(a) decisions taken by the Administrative Council as well as the Select Committee (CA/D and SC/D documents), and meeting reports of the Administrative Council relevant for the implementation of the EPC
(b) decisions of the President and decisions of vice-presidents delegated under Article 10(2)(i) EPC, as well as notices from the EPO, including amendments to the Rules relating to Fees, fee revisions and amendments to the Arrangements for deposit accounts and their annexes (ADA), and other changes to fees, including international fees
(c) Regulation on the European qualifying examination for professional representatives (REE), as well as notices and information regarding the European qualifying examination where required in the REE (Article 18 and 22 REE)
(d) epi Code of Conduct, Regulation on discipline for professional representatives, Rules of Procedure of the Disciplinary Committee, Disciplinary Board and Disciplinary Board of Appeal
(e) decisions and notices of the President of the Boards of Appeal and the Presidium of the Boards of Appeal, including business distribution schemes
(f) decisions and opinions of the Enlarged Board of Appeal, decisions referring questions to the Enlarged Board of Appeal relating to the interpretation of the EPC (Article 112 EPC) and other decisions, as decided by the responsible board of appeal
(g) agreements with national offices which provide a legal basis for EPO activities
(h) agreements with other organisations (e.g. with WIPO under the PCT), including the Patent Prosecution Highway, which provide a legal basis for EPO activities
4. The following items will no longer be published in the Official Journal:
(a) the list of professional representatives, as laid down in the Decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 27 November 2024 concerning the publication of the list of professional representatives, OJ EPO 2024, A107, and in the Notice from the European Patent Office dated 27 November 2024 concerning the publication of the list of professional representatives, OJ EPO 2024, A109
(b) information from epi and CEIPI, and other external organisations not listed in section 3(d)
(c) information from national patent offices
(d) lists of countries participating in international agreements
(e) supplementary publications which merely consolidate information published previously in the Official Journal
5. The following items, which have until now been published in the Official Journal, will now be published in the appropriate sections of the EPO website (epo.org):
(a) selected information from the Administrative Council and Select Committee other than that referred to in section 3(a)
(b) a consolidated overview of the latest fees and fee payments (currently published in the form of supplementary publications)
(c) notices and information regarding the European qualifying examination not covered in section 3(c)
6. The HTML version of the Official Journal will continue to remain free of charge and available in all EPO official languages at its current location on the EPO website (epo.org). The PDF version will be discontinued.