EPO ACCEPTING COLOR AND GRAYSCALE DRAWINGS
The European Patent Office (EPO) announced that, effective October 1, 2025, applicants may submit color and grayscale drawings in European patent applications filed electronically. Under a Decision of the President of the EPO dated July 7, 2025, electronically submitted drawings in color or grayscale will be accepted without conversion to monochrome during processing or publication. The new technical requirements specify that color or grayscale drawings must exhibit sufficiently rich contrast; have durable, uniformly thick, and well-defined lines, strokes, or areas; and be suitable for clear display at a resolution of at least 300 dpi.
The new rules apply to all European applications (Euro-direct applications) filed electronically, but not to Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications in the international phase, as color drawings are not admissible under the PCT. Color drawings that are nevertheless included in an international (PCT) application will be rendered in black and white by the International Bureau (IB) of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for subsequent processing and publication. However, if a color or grayscale version is also submitted, the IB will retain it and make it available to the public and patent offices via PATENTSCOPE. The international publication’s cover page will indicate when such a version is available.
For Euro-PCT applications entering the European phase on or after October 1, 2025, the EPO will process color or grayscale drawings if they are available on PATENTSCOPE and the international publication’s cover page will note their availability. If those conditions are not met, the EPO will rely on the black and white drawings as published. Filing colored drawings only upon regional entry may lead to added subject matter objections under Article 123(2) EPC. For Euro-PCT applications that entered the European phase before October 1, 2025, the EPO will continue to base processing on the black and white versions, even if color or grayscale drawings were originally filed. Thanks to European Practice Committee Co-Chair Jasmin Jantschy (Cargill, Incorporated) for submitting this news item on behalf of the committee.
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REMOVE REDUNDANT WORDS IN “LEGAL DOUBLETS”
Reader JON PUTNAM drew my attention to a Merriam-Webster social media post on “legal doublets.” It got 17,000 reactions and 600 comments. A legal doublet is a standardized phrase consisting of two words that are synonyms or near-synonyms, usually connected by and. “Indemnify and hold harmless” is a common legal doublet. Other examples: arbitrary and capricious; covenant and agree; due and payable; free and clear; null and void; over and above.
According to Merriam-Webster, legal doublets originated in England with the practice of pairing a French word and an English word after the Norman conquest. Also, ancient legal writers may have been paid by the word.
Today we should say something only once in a sentence. If the two words of a doublet are clearly redundant, replace them with a single word. But not all doublets are redundant. How about arbitrary and capricious? I’d call the words similar but not redundant.
Comments and suggestions are invited. Click on “Curmudgeon” at the bottom of this column for my email address. Click here for the Curmudgeon Archives.
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The Curmudgeon
IPO CLOSED MONDAY, OCTOBER 13
IPO will be closed for a federal holiday in the U.S. and will not publish the Daily News on Monday, October 13. Normal operations will resume on Tuesday, October 14.