Joana Piriquito Santos, Partner at NLP, participated on May 12th, in the 31th meeting of the Working Group on Guidelines of the Standing Advisory Committee before the European Patent Office (SACEPO).
The SACEPO Working Party on Guidelines (SACEPO WP/G) met on 12 May and discussed the outcomes of user consultation on the Guidelines 2026 and considerations for the next revision cycle of 2027. There were lively discussions among users and exchanges with the EPO.
The meeting focused on feedback received during the online consultation on the preview editions of the 2026 Guidelines for Examination at the EPO (EPC Guidelines), the PCT-EPO Guidelines and the Unitary Patent (UP) Guidelines, which entered into force on 1 April 2026. The discussions helped clarify user comments and provided further insight into current EPO practice.
SACEPO is the EPO's main advisory body and is consulted on all major issues relating to the development of the European patent system.
