The Guidelines for Examination in the European Patent Office (or, for short, the EPO Guidelines) are general instructions, for the examiners working at the European Patent Office

European Patent Office

The European Patent Office is one of the two organs of the European Patent Organisation , the other being the Administrative Council. The EPO acts as executive body for the Organisation while the Administrative Council acts as its supervisory body as well as, to a limited extent, its legislative...

 (EPO) as well as for the parties interacting with the EPO, on the practice and procedure at the EPO in the various aspects of the prosecution of European patent applications and European patents. The Guidelines have been adopted, effective as at 1 June 1978, by the President of the EPO in accordance with .

The Guidelines include five parts, relating respectively to the formalities examination (Part A), the search (Part B), the substantive examination (Part C), the opposition

Opposition procedure before the European Patent Office

The opposition procedure before the European Patent Office is a post-grant, contentious, inter partes, administrative procedure intended to allow any European patent to be centrally opposed...

 and limitation/revocation

Limitation and revocation procedures before the European Patent Office

In European patent law, the limitation and revocation procedures before the European Patent Office are post-grant, ex parte, administrative procedures allowing any European patent to be centrally limited by an amendment of the claims or revoked, respectively. These two procedures were introduced...

 procedures (Part D), and general procedural matters (Part E).

Legal status

According to several decisions of the Boards of Appeal of the EPO, the guidelines are only general instructions intended to cover normal occurrences. An Examining Division can depart from them provided it acted in accordance with the European Patent Convention

European Patent Convention

The Convention on the Grant of European Patents of 5 October 1973, commonly known as the European Patent Convention , is a multilateral treaty instituting the European Patent Organisation and providing an autonomous legal system according to which European patents are granted...

 (EPC). It is normally desirable for Examining Divisions to act in accordance with the Guidelines, but these are not rules of law, so failure to follow a procedure set out in them is not in itself a substantial procedural violation.

See also

• Case Law of the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office
  Case Law of the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office
  The Case Law of the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office is a book, published by the European Patent Office , which summarizes the body of case law on the European Patent Convention developed by the Boards of Appeal of the EPO since the EPC entered into force at the end of the '70s. Its...
  
  , also known as 'White Book'
• Manual of Patent Examining Procedure
  Manual of Patent Examining Procedure
  The Manual of Patent Examining Procedure is published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for use by patent attorneys and agents and patent examiners. It describes all of the laws and regulations that must be followed in the examination of U.S. patent applications, and articulates...
  
   (MPEP, United States)
• Manual of Patent Office Practice
  Manual of Patent Office Practice
  The Manual of Patent Office Practice is a manual for patent agents and patent examiners, published by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office...
  
  (MOPOP, Canada)

External links

• Guidelines for Examination in the European Patent Office