The EPO’s 2026 Guidelines for Examination took effect in April, and a continuing series of Marks & Clerk analyses has highlighted three procedural changes with immediate practical relevance. PACE requests for accelerated search have been withdrawn because the EPO now treats timely search reports as part of its normal workflow, although accelerated examination under PACE remains available. Applicants therefore have less reason to focus on expediting search and more reason to prepare early for the transition from the search opinion into substantive examination.
The treatment of amendments has also been sharpened. During examination, a division may carry out a prima facie assessment of voluntary amendments, but it must give reasons; where rejection requires extensive reasoning, that may itself indicate that the issue goes beyond a genuinely preliminary review. In opposition, a division should not refuse an auxiliary amendment request without first examining whether it substantively attempts to overcome the objection. The direction is clear: procedural discretion remains, but summary rejection requires a closer link between the amendment, the objection and the reasons given.
