Handwritten amendments no longer allowed from the European Patent Office
22 January 2014Starting from 1st January 2014 the European Patent Office requires a stricter compliance with Rule 50 EPC and Rule 49 EPC, in particular concerning handwritten amendments, with the aim to move a further step in implementing a completely electronically processing of European patent applications and oppositions.
As they cannot be captured and elaborated by text-processing software, handwritten amendments are no longer accepted with reference to documents replacing parts of European patent applications and concerning opposition proceedings. Exceptions are still allowed, if necessary, only for graphic symbols and characters and chemical or mathematical formulae.
This new practice also applies to amendments to be made during oral proceedings, thus parties are advised to bring laptops, USB sticks, or similar devices as well as electronic copies of relevant documents, while the European Patent Office will arrange technical facilities and provide parties with electronic copies of Druckexemplar or patent specification, in order to make easier the drafting of amendments.
