MUNICH - In its commitment to promote digital transformation and simplify procedures for users, the EPO will streamline the handling of authorizations as of November 1, 2024, according to the official website of the European Patent Office (EPO). 

Equal treatment of legal practitioners and professional representatives regarding the filing of authorizations.
Legal practitioners will no longer need to file an authorization as a matter of principle. Only in exceptional cases will they need to file such authorization, namely either upon invitation by the EPO or in the event of a change of representative involving representatives who are not members of the same association and without explicit withdrawal of the previous representative. This aligns with the existing requirements for professional representatives.

Acceptance of electronic signatures on authorizations

The EPO will accept a broad range of electronic signatures on authorizations, including text string, digital, and facsimile signatures, thus aligning with the legal requirements applicable to documents supporting the requests for registration of a transfer of a patent application.

Information in case of change of representative

Additionally, in the case of a representative change without explicit withdrawal of the previous representative from representation, the EPO will continue to inform the previous representative but will no longer send a copy of the authorization.