EPO Practice: European Patent Applications & EPC Prosecution
Filing and Prosecuting Before the European Patent Office
Guide to EPO prosecution under the EPC - filing strategy, the search and examination phases, opposition proceedings, and the validation country decision. Covers the Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court.
Companion last updated: June 1, 2026
Key Topics
- EPC filing requirements and procedures
- EPO examination and search phases
- EPO opposition proceedings
- Unitary Patent and UPC
- Validation country strategy
Updated Figures & Data
The following figures or data from this chapter have been updated since the print edition.
EPO official fees - filing, search, claims, grant (2026)
EPO fee revision effective April 2026.
For current official fee schedules, see the Fees page →
Corrections & Clarifications
EPO fee revision effective April 2026 - UPC developments
The European Patent Office revised its fee schedule effective 1 April 2026. Additionally, the Unified Patent Court (UPC) continued to develop its case law during 2024-25, with several significant decisions on scope of protection and preliminary injunctions. The UPC section on pp.398-401 should be read alongside the UPC case law tracker maintained on the companion website.
Prompts for This Chapter
Tested AI prompts relevant to the topics covered in Chapter 12. Copy and adapt for your work.
EPO Examination Response: Inventive Step (Article 56 EPC)
Drafts a structured inventive step argument using the EPO problem-solution approach.