Still struggling with PCT ?

Welcome to PCT.App !

• By IP.appify : www.pctapp.net/en/pct-app
• The only self-editable guide to PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty).
• Readable on your mobile phone & tablet. It is extensively commented, with many summaries of key issues. The screenshot above is simulated - "See Inside" for examples of actual screenshots.
• Search full-text, and navigate with hyperlinks & cross-references to internal & external resources.
• Organisation is chronological, mirroring the lives of PCT applications. 130 subjects include overviews and paragraphs from the most relevant provisions. All PCT Articles & Rules are included at least once.
• Self-editable online using a browser. Freely adapt the references online with your own comments & highlighting, and hide any unwanted parts. For editing & modifying content, we recommend using a larger screen with a mouse & keyboard.
• No need to transfer notes - legal updates are automatic without disturbing your individual content.
• Make printable colour pdf's at any time, or use our Print-On-Demand service for color hardcopies.
• Crucial for daily practice, essential for the EQE (Qualifying Exam for European Patent Attorneys).
• Also available as a fully-commented black-and-white paper book. Editing and colour hardcopies are only available to online subscribers.

To Do in 2022:

• Subscribe to PCT.App, the most advanced and comprehensive guide to PCT law & procedure.
• For lawyers, patent attorneys and formalities officers.
• Available in English and German.
• By IP.appify : www.pctapp.net/en/pct-app
• "See Inside" for actual PC and mobile phone screenshots, explanation of the structure, sample downloads, the Index and the Detailed Contents lists

Reviews & Recommendations:

- Nominee - IPKat Book of 2021 / Yellow Sheet (Nov 21) / Salted Patent (Apr 21)

• EPC.app and PCT.app helped me a lot in EQE Paper D - I did not even need to annotate it
• Pete's PCT.APP book saved me on EQE Paper D1
• I found it to be very good for EQE D exam. The plain language and keyword index made it work for me
• Being able to edit the contents to how I see fit was a surprisingly easy experience
• Organising PCT.App by subject in the order that an application would go through PCT gives an intuition that I haven’t found in other materials
• How convenient to have Till & Pete update your go-to EPC & PCT so they are always up to date
• Can´t recommend enough for EQE candidates as well as anyone in the profession
• I always had the material, with my own annotations, available online and as a printed book

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EQE 2022 - External References in WISEFlow and legal text versions

It was confirmed during the online EQE Tutor's Meeting in Oct 21 that access to www.epo.org will again be available during e-EQE 2022. Answers will again be accepted based upon texts accessible from www.epo.org which were valid on 31 Oct 2021, or valid on the day of the exam. 

It was also confirmed that NO DIGITAL COPIES of other references will be available, and NO ONLINE ACCESS to other websites will be available. You also CANNOT OPEN any documents on your computer during the exam. This may change in the future, but this currently has a low priority.

So, you will still need to print some references yourself before the exam. In particular, you will still need need PCT/WIPO references on paper, either by printing the official 2150 pages from the WIPO, or buying / printing our abbreviated and improved version: PCT Global Reference - Part (1) and (2).

No official calendars will be provided, so either print out the closure dates before the exam, or refer to the External References during the exam.

External References in WiseFlow

• "External references" opens in a new tab to Home >Law & practice >Legal texts
• Browser access to html and small pdf resources is limited to www.epo.org. 
• Smaller pdf's, such as most OJEPO notices, can be opened. Large pdf resources, like Guidelines, cannot be opened. Each pdf opens in a new tab, and number of tabs is limited by screen size. No annotation or highlighting is possible - this is only available for exam pdf.
• Browser shortcuts that work on my Win10: SHIFT+LEFT MOUSE (open in new tab), F5 (refresh - or use icon), ALT ← & ALT → (backward & forward - or use icon), SPACE or PAGE DOWN (scroll down), SHIFT+SPACE or PAGE UP (scroll up), HOME & END (top & bottom of page), jump to pdf bookmarks using toolbar icon, CTRL+SCROLL MOUSE (zoom - or use icon, or (i) options), CTRL+A, CTRL+C
• Browser shortcuts that don't: CTRL+SHIFT+T, CTRL+T, CTRL+TAB (it just increases indents in your answer), RIGHT MOUSE (e.g. open in new tab), CTRL+E/F/K (no search function in html or pdf. Search is available for exam pdf only). CTRL+D, CTRL+P, CTRL+S.
• Copy/paste is available into your answer, but that this DOES NOT get marks. Marks are available for APPLYING the law. Just copying in legal texts is no different to a  reference.
• No browser bookmarks will be available or importable. There is no address bar, so urls are not visible and cannot be typed. Before the exam, get used to finding resources from the EPO home page, and practice using the html search. Note paths to critical references - these are pages that you often use in real life.
• Test access during the mocks - some firewalls block access, so you may need to whitelist the whole www.epo.org domain. 

Key External References

• Only for TARGETED look-up - you can WASTE A LOT OF TIME searching and reading. Under stress, you will not be able to properly understand references you have never seen before. 
• Advanced website search: Home >Search 
• link is on EPO home page and at bottom right on Legal Texts page
• search can be limited to specific language and specific legal texts
• EPO office holidays: Home >Service & support >Official holidays
• Extension / Validation OJEPO's: Home >Law & practice >Legal texts >Extension/validation system
• London Agreement: Home >Law & practice >Legal texts >London Agreement
• National Law Tables: Home >Law & practice >Legal texts >National law relating to the EPC
• EPO-EPC Guidelines: Home >Law & practice >Legal texts >EPC Guidelines
• OJEPO's: Home >Law & practice >Legal texts >Official Journal
• OJEPO Search: Home >Law & practice >Legal texts >Official Journal >Search
• link is at left on Official Journal page
• search can be limited to specific language, parts of of OJEPO and specific dates
• EPO Fees: Home >Applying for a patent >Fees >European (EPC) fees
• EPO-PCT Guidelines: Home >Law & practice >Legal texts >PCT-EPO Guidelines
• International Applications (PCT): Home >Applying for a patent >International route (PCT)
• Euro-PCT Guide: Home >Applying for a patent >International route (PCT) >Guide for applicants

Other External References (only in emergencies)

• Look first for established Case Law in EPO Guidelines and G-Decisions. 
• BoA Case Law: Home >Law & practice >Boards of Appeal >Case Law of the Boards of Appeal
• BoA Case Law Search: Home >Law & practice >Boards of Appeal >Search decisions

For details on official Guidelines versions, click READ MORE.

EQE 2022 - which legal texts to use?

 

17 Dec 21: this post has been updated here.

There are no details yet on which digital references will be allowed or available during the exam. So, you may still need to print your references just before the exam.

During EQE 2021, External References were available for digital reading and searching, but were limited to the EPO website only. These were the original versions of the references, and no annotation or highlighting was possible. Copy/paste was available from the

references. No details yet on what will be available in 2022.

Answers for the Main and Pre-Exam will be accepted based on legal texts valid on 31 Oct 2021 - REE (OJ SE2, 2019) Art. 13(1)(c), Rule 2 (this is still the old REE - it is likely to be updated this year. There was already an updated Instructions to Candidates - OJ 2021, A13).

I will be updating all my EQE-specific study materials to provide versions valid on 31 Oct 2021. Hopefully, many of the references will be made available digitally during the exam, so that this set can be minimised.  

The EPO-EPC and EPO-PCT Guidelines have moved to a new revision cycle, namely 1 March each year. If the EPO website is available again during the exams as an External Reference, the 1 Mar 2022 versions will be the versions in force and available digitally. The 1 Mar 2021 versions will only be

available on-line in the EPO-EPC Guidelines Archive and EPO-PCT Guidelines Archive as PDF's.

During EQE 2021, the exam committees were pragmatic and flexible about what they would accept to support an answer - either the official versions (valid on 31 Oct before the exam), or newer versions available digitally through External References.

General recommended:

• For EQE 20xx, use the legal texts and documents valid on 31 Oct 20xx-1
• As a practicing (trainee) attorney, you should always be aware of the most up-to-date materials. If you use versions made available after 31 Oct 20xx-1 to answer questions, you will not be penalised. 
• But be pragmatic and don't just print out a lot of books or buy new ones. It is better to update older versions yourself by going through the changes in detail. The EPO provides some track changes versions and the WIPO usually uses change bars.
• Only transfer a lot of notes and annotations to a new version if you are using very old materials.
• If you do not use an "official version" during the exam, make a note once in each EQE exam of the Guidelines version you use. It is not required, but it makes it easier for the marker.

Summary for Main and Pre-Exam EQE 2022: 

• They will officially accept answers based on legal texts & documents in force on 31 Oct 2021
• They will also accept answers based on legal texts & documents in force after 31 Oct 2021 (including any updated EPO & EPO-PCT Guidelines version 1 Mar 22)
• Recommended for EQE 2022:
• look through the most important EPO & EPO-PCT Guidelines changes in Feb 2022 - the EPO usually provides a track changes version
• many of these changes will be based on Case Law, OJ EPO notices and practice changes that were already known in 2021, but missed the update one year earlier. 
• update the 1 Mar 2021 versions of the Guidelines yourself

CLICK BELOW for the background and explanations: