I. Overview

Similar to the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), the European Patent Office (EPO) typically follows a review cycle that includes stages such as application submission, publication, substantive examination, and patent granting. Within 6 months to 3 years after submission, a patent application will enter the substantive examination stage. It is well known that the examination cycle at the EPO is generally quite long, often taking 3-5 years, which causes many domestic applicants to struggle with the long examination period and seek ways to accelerate the application process. The following summarizes several ways to speed up the examination of European patents for your reference.

II. Methods to Accelerate European Patent Examination

PACE (Patent Application Accelerated Examination) Procedure

A PACE request can only be submitted once during the search and examination stages. It is best to submit the PACE request when filing the European patent application or in response to the European search opinion. Once a PACE request is made, the EPO will issue the next official communication within 3 months from the latest of the following dates: the date the relevant patent application is accepted by the examination department, the date a reply to the European search report is received, or the date the PACE request is received.

A PACE request requires no special justification and does not incur any official fees. However, the request becomes invalid under the following circumstances:

(1) The PACE request is withdrawn;

(2) The applicant requests an extension of time;

(3) The application is withdrawn or considered withdrawn;

(4) The application is rejected;

(5) Relevant fees are not paid on time.

European Waiver Procedure (also known as Waiver of Active Amendments)

The Waiver procedure allows applicants to waive certain rights to responses and amendments during the examination process (the EPO’s default waiting period) to speed up the examination. The rights that can be waived include:

(1) Waiving the right under EPC Rule 70(2) to the 6-month response period to the European search report (this waiver should be made before receiving the search report), with the EPO issuing both the search report and the first examination opinion simultaneously;

(2) Waiving the right under EPC Rules 161 and 162 for the 6-month period for active amendments (modifications and responses to ISR and IPER) during the European national phase of a PCT application;

(3) Waiving the right under EPC Rule 71(3) to the 4-month period for confirming the amended text, paying fees, and submitting translation documents after receiving the intention to grant notice.

PCT Early Entry into the European Phase (PCT Early Processing Procedure)

Under PCT Articles 23(2) or 40(2), for PCT applications entering the European phase before the 31-month deadline, the EPO will not initiate examination unless the applicant requests early processing. In such cases, the applicant can request early processing at the time of entry into the European phase (i.e., Request of Early Processing). This request must meet the relevant provisions of EPC Rule 159 for entering the European phase, including the payment of relevant fees and submission of necessary documents.

Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)

Currently, the EPO, the CNIPA, the Japan Patent Office (JPO), the Korea Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) have signed the IP5 PPH agreement. Therefore, Chinese applicants can choose the PPH procedure between the CNIPA and the EPO or the PCT-PPH to accelerate the European patent application process. The eligibility criteria for PPH include the first application or PCT application having entered the European phase with an agreement between the applicant and the EPO.

For PCT-PPH, at least one claim in the international search or international preliminary examination report must be patentable. The scope of protection for the claims in the European application should correspond to the scope recognized in the international phase, i.e., be the same or narrower. Before the substantive examination starts, the applicant has only one opportunity to request PPH, which differs from China, where applicants have two chances to make such a request.

EPO-CNIPO PCT International Search Pilot Program

This pilot program is available when choosing the EPO as the International Searching Authority when submitting a new application, provided that the PCT application is filed in English and submitted electronically, with the payment of international search fees.

The advantage of this program is that it exempts applicants from performing supplementary European searches when entering the European national phase, saving up to 12 months of time. Applicants do not need to pay search fees when entering the European phase, and they can also leverage the positive examination results from the EPO to expedite authorization in other countries using the PPH and other methods.

III. Conclusion

The above outlines several commonly used methods to accelerate European patent examination. Since the stages of use for each method vary, applicants can choose the most advantageous acceleration procedure based on their specific needs.