Report of the Online Communication Committee

Summer months are quiet in the usual way, but we prepare for lots of work in the new season. An OCC annual meeting is planned for 15 October 2024, in physical/hybrid form for the first time since the pandemic and since election of the new OCC. The annual meeting with EPO is being scheduled for early December.

As OCC Chair I accompanied Peter Thomsen as observers at the IP5 Heads/IP5 Industry meeting in Seoul. OCC members are well placed to represent industry on IT, standardisation etc., but that is contingent on a fruitful cooperation with the other members of IP5 industry.

Details of EPO’s MyEPO services and latest IT Roadmap are available online at https://www.epo.org/en/applying/myepo-services/interact. MyEPO pilot group sessions are paused for the summer, but take off again on 24 September.

Pilot users (only) are currently able to play with the new Legal Interactive Platform – an AI tool for researching legal/procedural questions within EPO legislation (EPC, Guidelines etc) and case law.

I have personally used it for research and argumentation in written submissions and found it an excellent time-saver. As it was developed primarily for EPO examiners, more than one user has commented that the quality of reasoning in EPO objections should improve, if they really make use of this tool.

The new Third Party Observations platform is in development but seemingly delayed. With support from epi colleagues, I have already stated that we disapprove the EPO suggestion that TPO may be filed only through this platform, and not (e.g.) on paper in future. How is this compatible with EPC Rule 2?

We are in contact with epi delegates to SACEPO-WPR (Working Party on Rules), to coordinate responses on these agenda items for the 24/10/2024 WPR meeting:

2. Update on implementing the 2^nd basket of legal changes
   • Reforming authorisation requirements – associations and general authorisations
   • Filing with the EPO in DOCX format and in colour
   • Updating the legal framework for electronic filing and file inspection
3. Using AI to create submissions in the patent grant process

We should also watch for changes to improve safeguards against IT failures at the user side, for last-day filings/fees.

OCC Collaborations: A remarkable number of new collaborative projects are in progress/preparation:

• OCC members have been supporting LitCom in collaboration with the UPC IT team and other user bodies to improve the UPC CMS. An OCC associate with UPC litigation experience has volunteered to join the UPC/EPO/user workshop sessions for development of the UPC CMS replacement. OCC member Ben Grau has experience of such a development process (Front Office), and will brief the epi team in advance. Expect development to be rapid and interactive, with early release of ‘minimum viable product’ and improvements by iteration.
• OCC members have participated with EPO and NPO experts on new IT Cooperation Workshops for SP 2028, covering “Digital Toolkit”, API’s and interconnectivity, and Front Office (continued from SP 2023).
• OCC members have volunteered to participate in PCC working groups on use of AI tools and cloud computing.
• OCC is ready to assist PEC in IT matters relating to the EQE - Wiseflow etc..
• A joint epi-EPO webinar has been mooted and contact has been made with EPO. Topics are not confirmed, and ideas are invited. epi would certainly like the seminar to familiarise members with the Contingency Upload Service CUS, in the same spirit as a flight crew demonstrates the emergency procedures on a plane). To make a more substantial programme, perhaps the topic could be expanded to “lesser-known corners of EPO online services”, to include CUS, Third Party Observations and the new Legal Interactive Platform (when released).

Also recently, at the Board’s request, some OCC members prepared a draft position paper on the subject “Support for national office procedures post-eOLF: What to expect of EPO?” For example, Online Filing 2.0 does not support national office procedures including Form 1001 filed with the national office, in the same way eOLF does. After studying the matter, OCC’s recommendation that epi should not ask EPO to create new IT solutions for national office filings, more than it does already. We observe the EPO and the NPOs working well together in IT Cooperation framework, but there are clear limits between what is EPO and what is national responsibility. That said, epi will be asking EPO and NPOs to pay attention to the completeness and accuracy of the information they publish, for example in service documentation and user interface screens, and in National Law Relating to the EPC. This is particularly important as the online systems are in a period of transition.

It would be good to hear from members in those countries where eOLF is used for national procedures, whether there are any problems accessing eOLF or alternative national services for these procedures. After 30 September, EPO will no longer accept requests for replacement smart cards, and smart cards will cease working altogether at the end of 2024. Additionally, we know that eOLF may be retired completely at the end of 2025, and already EPO is winding down support for NPOs if they need help to amend their procedures in eOLF.

Comments