http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2020/04/no-european-qualifying-examination-will.html
In what now seems like a different era, the EPO announced that the 2020 EQE was to be postponed in view of the emerging COVID-19 crisis (IPKat here). At that time, the full scale of the health emergency had not yet become apparent. There was hope that the 2020 EQE might be re-arranged for later in the year, provided that any such re-arrangement did not conflict with national patent exams. Any such hopes have now been dashed with a notice from the EPO supervisory board stating that the 2020 EQE will not be re-arranged: “No European qualifying examination (pre-examination or main examination consisting of papers A, B, C and D) will be held in 2020”. The full communication can be read here, with the accompanying decision here.
The communication also provides some further details on the reasoning behind the original decision to cancel the 2020 EQE:
“The main driver of such decision was the need to safeguard not only the health and safety of the nearly 3.000 people that participate and are involved in the organisation of the Exams, but also to preserve the health and safety of the public in general.“
The Supervisory Board goes on to list the reasons why it has decided to fully cancel the EQE 2020. These reasons include the number of European countries currently in lock-down, the uncertain nature of the situation and the need to avoid jeopardising the EQE 2021.
| In lock-down |
Importantly, the communication also states that candidates who had enrolled for the 2020 main examination papers will automatically be considered to be enrolled for those papers in 2021, and the fees will be carried over to 2021. Furthermore, the 2021 main examination will be marked either on the law in force on 31 October 2019 or 31 October 2020, depending on which of the two dates would give the candidate the higher mark.
The communication itself does not indicate whether candidates will be able to proceed to the Main Examination without completing the pre-EQE. It was hoped by some that the EPO might make this allowance, in order to ameliorate the impact of the cancellation of the pre-EQE on candidates’ professional development. It seems open to interpretation whether the decision (here) accompanying the communication does allow this (see comments over on DeltaPatents). Explicit clarification from the EPO is needed.
The Supervisory Board’s decision is not surprising. One might suggest the writing was on the wall with the cancellation of the 2020 Oktoberfest.
What about the UK exams? We are awaiting CIPA to come to a decision with regards to the 2020 UK exams. CIPA has issued a statement last month that “No decision has yet been made with regard to cancellation or postponement of the examinations. The status of the examinations is under regular review”. We urge CIPA to provide clarity sooner rather than later.
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