Source: European Patent Office (EPO)

The 58th Main SACEPO meeting focused on the Quality Action Plan, use of artificial intelligence to enhance patent examination quality, recent legal changes and the work of the EPO Observatory and IP Lab. On 16 June, 60 representatives from industrial property associations, industry federations and patent attorney associations worldwide convened, with the meeting chaired by EPO Vice‑President Christoph Ernst and opening remarks from Steve Rowan, EPO Vice‑President Patent Granting Process, who emphasised quality as a continuous discipline and described AI tools as valuable when they strengthen the Office’s mission and “enhance the capacities of people.” The EPO showcased patent knowledge and technology platforms such as Espacenet, the Deep Tech Finder and the Data Desk.

Delegates heard that key quality achievements for 2025 and the Quality Action Plan 2026 have had positive impacts on examination, and expressed unanimous support for the developments presented. Participants were updated on plans for a fully digitalised, paperless patent granting process by April 2027, including DOCX filing and MyEPO enhancements, and on a third basket of legal changes for implementation in April 2027 covering amendments upon entry into the European phase, indication of the basis for amendments, and removal of the requirement to file patent documents cited in oppositions. The meeting also reviewed Unitary Patent operations from June 2023 to May 2026, validation programme developments including concluded negotiations with Angola, the Stakeholder Quality Assurance Panels meeting in October, and the EPO’s approach following the adoption of the WIPO Treaty on Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge (GRATK) on 24 May 2024 to broaden examiner access to non‑patent literature and traditional knowledge databases.