A new measure adopted by the European Patent Office (EPO) will enter into force on 1 October 2025, pursuant to the Decision of the President of the EPO of 25 July 2025 (OJ EPO 2025, A49). This decision introduces an important novelty: the possibility of including colour or greyscale drawings in European patent applications, provided that they are filed electronically.
Until now, drawings included in European applications had to be submitted only in black and white. With this change, the options for visually representing inventions are expanded, which can be especially useful in industries where the use of color facilitates technical understanding or improves the clarity of schematics.
In the national context, this modification will also affect the procedure for validating European patents in Spain. The Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (SPTO) will require that, in cases where the drawings have been granted and published in colour or greyscale by the EPO, the same format be maintained in the validation process in our country.
From a practical perspective, this development represents a step towards greater coherence between the requirements of the EPO and the SPTO, reducing unnecessary procedures and offering applicants greater room for manoeuvre. It is also a measure that is part of the continuous process of modernisation and digitalisation of the European industrial property system.
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