Final versions of EPC and PCT-EPO Guidelines 2023 agreed

Article summary

The European Patent Office (EPO) has announced that the final versions of the European Patent Convention (EPC) and the Patent Cooperation Treaty-European Patent Office (PCT-EPO) Guidelines have been agreed upon and will enter into force on 1 March 2023. A preview version is expected to be available before the end of February 2023. The agreement was reached on 11 October 2022 during the second annual meeting of the Standing Advisory Committee before the EPO Working Party on Guidelines (SACEPO/WPG), where there was discussion on the new Rule 56a EPC and improving other updates in areas related to inventions in the biotechnology and antibodies fields. The SACEPO/WPG also agreed on the topics to be covered in subsequent updates of the guidelines, such as sections relating to Rule 137(5) EPC, aspects of opposition procedures and further examples of patentability of inventions involving artificial intelligence.