Tuesday, March 03, 2026 D 2026: first impressions?

 To all who sat the D-paper today:

What are your first impressions with respect to the very final D-paper? Any general or specific comments?

 

For example, was there a good balance between EPC-related questions and PCT-related questions? Did any unexpected topics come up? Was the paper easier than in recent years, or harder, or at a comparable level?

 

Please be reminded that, if you wish to lodge a complaint pursuant to point I.9. of Instructions to Candidates EQE2026 concerning the conduct of the examination, you must do so at the latest by the end of the day on which the paper to which your complaint pertains takes place, by filling in the dedicated form on the EQE website. The Form for paper D is only available on 03.03.2026, 16:45 - 23:59, CET.

 

The paper and our answers

We aim to post our provisional answer shortly after the exam in a separate blog post as soon as possible after we have a copy of the paper, preferably in all three languages. Should you have a copy of at least a part of the paper, please send it to any of our tutors or to training@deltapatents.com.

Please be reminded that you can view and print/download  copy of your exam answer after the exam, via the view/download button below the "1. Paper"-icon in the bottom left part of the outer shell of the respective flow. It may not be available immediately after the official end of the (part of the) paper, it can take 30-60 minutes to appear. Apart from any pre-printable parts, the paper itself cannot be downloaded.

 

 

Comments are welcome in any official EPO language, not just English. 

 

In order to make responding to your comments easier, please do not post your comments anonymously. You can use either your real name or a nickname. You do not need to log in or make an account - it is OK to just put your (nick) name at the end of your post.

 

Please post your comments as to first impressions and general remarks to this blog, and post responses to our answer (as soon as available) to the separate blog post with our answer. You may also want to take a look at the blog posts about paper M2!

 

We look forward to hearing from you!

Tuesday, March 03, 2026 Good luck with paper D 2026!

 Good luck with paper D 2026!

Our Paper D 2026 blog will open for comments shortly after the end of the D-paper (so on 3 March 2026, shortly after 16:45).

We aim to post our provisional answers to the paper shortly after we have a copy of the respective exam paper. Keep an eye out for further blog posts!

Do not post any comments as to the merits of the answers of a certain exam paper/flow on the blogs while an exam/flow is still ongoing. Also, do not post the invigilator password or anything else that may be considered the breach of the exam regulations, instructions to the candidates, code of conduct, etc (see, e.g.,  EQE homepage, MyEQE, and the emails from the EQE secretariat).

All candidates, as well as tutors who helped candidates prepare for EQE 2026, are invited to contribute to the discussions on our EQE blogs! You can post your comments in English, French or German. You are invited to post your comments under your real name, but it is also possible to use a nickname.

The DeltaPatents team

NB: you can’t comment to this blog post; comments will be accepted at the post-exam blog post from 3 March 2026, 16:45.

Thursday, March 13, 2025 D2 2025 Our provisional answer

Our provisional answers to the D2 2025 are below (Note: D1 answers here, first impressions blog here)

Question 1(a)(i): What is the current patent situation as regards the following subject-matter: a bicycle saddle connector (BSC) with damping means (DM) in the form of spheres made from rubber (O)

P-MY is earliest application for BSC + DM = (O) - filed on 28 May 2021 by Sando Bike

Will have been published soon after 28 Nov. 2022

There are no earlier disclosures of BSC + DM of any kind.

The search report from MyIPO found no documents of relevance, so claim is novel.

The connector allows for a surprising better riding experience while still suppressing hard shocks, which supports inventive step. Valid patent protection has been obtained.

Status: granted in October 2023, so can be used to stop manufacture and sales of BSC + DM= (O) in Malaysia.

PCT-MY filed on 26 May 2022, claims priority from P-MY

Filed by Bikey, but prior to filing, in Aug 2021, P-MY was transferred to Bikey, including the right to claim priority, so was filed by successor in title

PCT-MY was filed within the 12m priority period of P-My, and contains same description as P-MY.

Claim 2 is directed to BSC + DM= (O), the same invention, and priority is validly claimed.

Claim 2 of PCT-MY has effective date: 28/05/2021

 

PCT-MY entered EP phase with claim to BSC + DM= (O)

Status of EURO-PCT-MY is deemed withdrawn, due to failure to file the search results for the priority application

The invitation was issued on 4/04/2024 and would have given a 2m time limit to respond, by providing the requested search results, which were available.

4/4/2024 + 2m --> 4/6/2024 (Tue)

The Loss of Rights was notified 6 months ago, well outside of the allowed 2m period for requesting further processing. No remedy is available.

 

Consequently, no protection can be obtained for any subject-matter via Euro-PCT-My

 

EP-DIV filed on 30 April contains same description as PCT-MY, so BSC + DM= (O) is disclosed.

EP-DIV was filed before 2m time limit to file search results expired, so parent was pending.

EP-DIV does not include a claim to BSC + DM= (O), equivalent to claim 2 of PCT-My, so at present there is no protection in Europe for this subject-matter.

 

There is no information that PCT-MY entered other national phases. The 30m period for entry in US expired in 28/11/2024 and TW is not a PCT state.

 

So only protection for BSC + DM= (O) is in Malaysia

 

Wednesday, March 12, 2025 D1 2025: our (provisional) answers

Please find below our provisional answers to the D1 questions of the 2025 paper (D1-1, D1-2). 

(Note: D2 answer here, first impressions blog here)

QUESTION 1 (8 MARKS)

On 11 November 2024, German applicants A and B jointly filed an international application PCT-AB with the EPO. PCT-AB validly claims priority from an earlier EP application EP-B, filed on 10 November 2023 by applicant B.

The European search report for EP-B cites only A documents.

Today (11 March 2025), A and B wish to delay the entry of PCT-AB into the regional phase before the EPO for as long as possible for strategic reasons.

What steps should be taken and why?

Answer

·       The 31m period for EP entry is calculated from earliest priority date - R 159(1) EPC.

·       At present, the 31m period will expire 10/11/2023 + 31m [R 131(4) EPC] --> 10/06/2026 (Wed)

·       To postpone EP entry as far as possible, the priority claim to EP-B must be withdrawn, as the time limit will then be recalculated from the new earliest priority date, i.e. the PCT filing date - R. 90bis.3 (d)

 Actions:

·       The applicants must submit a notice of withdrawal, withdrawing the priory claim under R. 90bis.3 PCT

·       To be submitted to the EPO as rO or to the IB - R 90bis.3(c)

·       Time limit: can be done at any time prior to expiry of 30m from priority - R. 90bis.3(a)

·       So until 10/11/2023 + 30m [R. 80.2 PCT] --> 10/05/2026 (Sun) extended to 11/05/2026 [R. 80.5 PCT]

·       The notice of withdrawal must be signed by both applicants: A and B - R. 90bis.5.

·       Or, if one of the applicants is the common representative and has been appointed and authorized by the other applicant under R 90.4, the common representative may sign the notice of withdrawal.

·       An agent appointed and authorized via a PoA under R 90bis.4(e) may also sign,

 

Tuesday, March 11, 2025 D 2025: first impressions?

 To all who sat the D-paper today:  

 

What are your first impressions with respect to this year's D-paper? Any general or specific comments? 

 

How did this year's D-paper compare to the earlier online D papers of 2022 - 2025?

Were the D1 questions and the D2 part similar as to its subjects and difficulty as the last few years? 

 

Did the split of the paper into three parts influence your exam? If so, how? How did you use the breaks? Could you forget about the part you just finished and free your mind for the next part in each break? Were the breaks long enough? Did you also take any unscheduled breaks?

 

Were the topics well balanced in the D1-part? Was the balance between EPC and PCT right for you? Any substantive topics in D1 (e.g., partial priority; disclaimers; plants; double patenting)? 

 

Any (expected or unexpected) questions about recent legal changes in D1?

 

Which of the D1 Questions did you consider particularly difficult, and which relatively 'easy'? Did you skip any D1-questions? If so, why (e.g., too difficult, allocating the time for another question, no time left)?

 

Did you use the legal texts that were available online (EPO legal texts, PCT Applicant's Guide, PCT Treaty)? Which, how?

 

Were the legal issues in the D2-part well doable? Amount of information? Complexity of the inventions/subject-matter? Any particular difficult issues? 

 

Did you experience any technical difficulties during the exam? How and how fast were they resolved? Did you use the widget to contact the invigilator? 

 

Please be reminded that, if you wish to lodge a complaint pursuant to point I.8. of the Instructions to Candidates concerning the conduct of the examination , you must do so at the latest by the end of the day on which the paper concerned takes place, by filling in the dedicated form on the EQE website. The Form for paper D is (only) available on 11.03.2025, 16:45 - 23:59, CET.

The paper and our answers

We aim to post the core our (provisional) answers shortly after the exam in separate blog posts (one for D Part 1 and one for D Part 2), as soon as possible after we have received a copy of the papers, preferably in all three languages. Should you have a copy, please send it to any of our tutors or to training@deltapatents.com.

Please be reminded that you can view and print/download  copy of your exam answer after the exam, via the eye below the "1. Paper"-icon in the bottom left part of the flow window of the respective flow. (It may not be available immediately after the official end of the (part of the) paper, but only 30-60 minutes later.) The paper itself cannot be downloaded (unless you copied it in full into your exam answer).

We look forward to your comments!
Comments are welcome in any official EPO language, not just English. So, comments in German and French are also very welcome!

 

Please do not post your comments anonymously - it is allowed, but it makes responding more difficult and rather clumsy ("Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms Anonymous of 11-03-2025 19:20"), whereas using your real name or a nickname is more personal, more interesting and makes a more attractive conversation. You do not need to log in or make an account - it is OK to just put your (nick) name at the end of your post.

 

Active discussion is appreciated; inappropriate content (non-respectful, offensive, impolite) will, if spotted, be removed by the system or by the blog team.

 

Please post your comments as to first impressions and general remarks to the D-paper as a whole, and to the two parts (D1 and D2) as whole part to this blog.

Please post substantial comments/questions with respect to specific D1 questions in our upcoming D1-blogpost and substantial comments/questions with respect to D2 specifically in our upcoming D2-blogpost. Thanks!

Tuesday, March 11, 2025 Our paper D 2025 blog will be open for comments after the exam (11 March 2025, 16:45)

 Good luck with paper D 2025!

Our EQE blogs will be open for your comments and opinions w.r.t. to papers D, A, B, C and F shortly after the respective exams. We aim to post our (provisional) answers to the various papers shortly after we have received a copy of the respective exam paper.

Do not post any comments as to the merits of the answers of a certain exam paper/flow on the blogs while an exam/flow is still ongoing. Also, do not post the invigilator password or anything else that may be considered the breach of the exam regulations, instructions to the candidates, code of conducts, etc (see, e.g.,  EQE website, MyEQE, and the emails from the EQE secretariat).

All candidates, as well as tutors who helped candidates prepare for EQE 2025, are invited to contribute to the discussions on our EQE blogs! You can post your comments in English, French or German. You are invited to post your comments under your real name, but it is also possible to use a nickname if you wish to hide your identify.

The DeltaPatents team

NB: you can’t comment to this blog post; comments will be accepted from a new blog post after the exam has ended, i.e., as of 16:45.

Friday, August 23, 2024 EQE2025 edition of "Main Exam Questions for Paper D" available

The EQE2025 edition of ourQ&A book "Main Exam Questions for Paper D" is now available in our webshop. A German translation of the Question set is available as an option.

This book is for candidates preparing for the Main Exam if the European Qualifying Examination (EQE). The EQE 2025 version of this book has been extended with 32 new questions and now includes more than 630 legal and exam style questions directed to the EPC, PCT, the Unitary Patent and core provisions of the UPC.