EQE Patent

Overview

The European qualifying examination (EQE) is the exam you must pass to be entered on the list of professional representatives before the European Patent Office (EPO), that is, to practise as a European patent attorney. It has run since 1979, and the EPO says more than 14,000 people have qualified through it.

The exam is changing. Until 2026 it had a pre-examination and main papers A, B, C and D. From 2027 it is fully modular, with five papers: F, M1, M2, M3 and M4. In 2025 paper F was introduced and the pre-examination was dropped. In 2026 papers A to D were held for the last time, alongside the first M1 and M2. M3 and M4 are held for the first time in 2027. This page covers the modular exam.

The exam is held online, usually once a year, and you can sit it from any suitable location. It uses the WISEflow software, with proctoring by audio and image recording, AI monitoring and human invigilation. It is open book: you may use any books and documents you find useful.

Who can apply

You need to meet three conditions.

• Qualification: a scientific or technical qualification, for example in biology, biochemistry, chemistry, electronics, pharmacology or physics.

• Professional activity: training under a professional representative, or work on patent matters as an employee of an industrial company in an EPC contracting state. Only activity after you obtained the qualification counts, and the required period must be complete by the exam date.

• Registration: you must register as a candidate at the start of your training, and in any case by 31 May of the year you first want to enrol. Anyone not registered in time cannot enrol. For the 2027 exam the deadline was 31 May 2026.

Required periods of professional activity before you first sit each paper:

Some recognised courses can shorten the required period, and candidates who passed papers under the older 2009 regulation get exemptions from the matching new papers.

Exam pattern

All papers are taken online, and the exam only covers legal texts in force on 31 October of the year before the exam. Papers F, M1, M2 and M3 are split into parts. Once the time for a part ends you cannot return to it, and you cannot take unscheduled breaks. The timings below are those announced for 2027, and the exact start and end times are confirmed later by the EPO.

Syllabus

You are expected to know European patent law under the EPC in depth, along with the rules on European patents with unitary effect that matter to professional representatives. You also need the Paris Convention, the Patent Cooperation Treaty, and the decisions of the Enlarged Board of Appeal and the EPO case law set out in the implementing provisions. A general knowledge of the national laws that apply to European patents and applications is also required.

Marking and results

Answers are marked anonymously. You pass the whole examination by passing each of the papers. The EPO publishes the list of successful candidates in its Official Journal and gives each candidate a copy of their own answers. Mark allocations and pass marks are not covered here, so check the regulation and the examiners' reports in the Compendium.

For 2026, about 2,500 candidates took part and 535 passed the full EQE. Results for paper F were published in March 2026, and the other 2026 papers had their results on 9 July 2026.

Important dates

For the 2027 exam:

• 31 May 2026: last day to register as a candidate if you want to enrol for the first time.

• 8 April to 30 September 2026: enrolment window for paper F.

• 7 July to 30 September 2026: enrolment window for the main papers M1 to M4. Both windows have now closed.

• 8 January 2027: last day to withdraw and still get exam fees back.

• 1 March 2027: paper F.

• 2 March 2027: paper M1.

• 4 March 2027: paper M2.

• 8 and 9 March 2027: paper M3.

• 11 March 2027: paper M4.

For the 2028 exam, the EPO has announced paper F on 6 March 2028, M1 on 7 March, M2 on 9 March, M3 on 13 and 14 March, and M4 on 16 March.

Fees

For 2027, the EPO sets a basic fee of EUR 200. The enrolment application costs EUR 200 and is not refundable, even if the application is rejected. Sitting each paper also costs EUR 200. Higher fees apply when you re-sit a paper, and fees cannot be carried over to a later exam. Payment is by credit card or bank transfer only.

If you withdraw by 8 January 2027, the fees for the papers concerned are refunded, but the enrolment fee is not. Later withdrawals get no refund. Logging in to any part of a paper counts as taking the whole paper.

How to apply

1. Register as a candidate through the EQC portal, with a certified copy of a valid ID or passport and certified copies of your diploma and transcript.

2. Once registered, enrol for the papers you want through the EQC portal during the enrolment window, and pay the fees.

3. Your admission letter appears in the portal after your application is processed.

All EQE correspondence is electronic through the portal.

After the exam

Newly qualified candidates can apply for entry on the list of professional representatives before the EPO through the EPO's MyEPO platform. Candidates who passed only some papers under the old framework are exempt from the corresponding papers in the modular exam.

Preparation tips

• Use the EQE Compendium on the EPO site, which holds past papers, mock papers with model solutions and examiners' reports. Mock papers for the modular exam are available.

• The EPO offers practical tests on the exam software shortly before the exam, for enrolled candidates.

• Because the exam is open book, practise finding provisions quickly in the texts you will bring.