We provided support and assistance to colleagues at the European Patent Institute (epi), resulting in the epi Council opting for a Bachelor’s degree requirement in a vote to decide the minimum requirement for qualification as a European Patent Attorney (EPA).
At its meeting in November, epi Council discussed the qualifications required to enrol for the EQE and decided, with 78% in favour, that candidates must have completed a university-level degree of a minimum three years duration and have accumulated a total number of 144 ECTS credits in scientific or technical subjects from completed university-level degrees (80% of a three-year degree), with ‘stacking’ of any completed university-level degrees allowable.
This was an important result, as there had been concern that the minimum requirement for qualification as an EPA could become a Master’s degree, which was widely seen in the UK as an unnecessary barrier to entry into the profession.
A lot of work was carried out by the epi Working Group considering the changes to the Regulation on the European qualifying examination and the corresponding implementing regulations (‘IPREE’). CIPA provided assistance in the background both to members of the Working Group and to epi Council members seeking to influence their Council colleagues. The epi‘s Diversity and Inclusion Committee had already published an article opposing the move, which CIPA Council discussed at its meeting on 4 October 2023 and agreed to support.
The final vote on changing the IPREE is still to come, but it seems that this will not now include a minimum requirement for a Master’s degree.