EPO Moves PCT Notifications to WIPO ePCT Electronic Delivery on June 1, 2026

The European Patent Office (EPO) will, starting June 1, 2026, deliver Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) notifications through the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)’s ePCT service rather than by paper mail. All ePCT users will be able to receive PCT communications issued by the EPO electronically, marking a significant step in the EPO’s broader transition toward a fully digital patenting process and reshaping how international applicants and their representatives interact with one of the world’s most-used PCT intermediaries.

The EPO acts as a Receiving Office (RO), International Searching Authority (ISA), and International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) under the PCT, putting it among the most frequently encountered international authorities for applicants. The move to electronic delivery will cover a broad range of PCT correspondence — search reports, written opinions, international preliminary examination reports, notifications relating to amendments and corrections, and fee-related communications.

The ePCT system and the December 2025 upgrade

ePCT is WIPO’s PCT management platform, used by applicants, agents, and national offices to file documents, view file wrappers, pay fees, and manage priority documents in a single environment. Version 4.16, deployed on December 8, 2025, introduced an “eNotifications” online delivery feature. The EPO’s June 1, 2026 switchover leverages that capability.

Other PCT authorities and designated offices already use ePCT for some electronic communications, but the EPO is one of the highest-traffic destinations for PCT applicants, and its full transition will substantially advance the digitalization of PCT practice as a whole.

What this changes for applicants and agents

From June 1, 2026, the EPO is expected to stop issuing paper notifications as the default for PCT correspondence. Applicants and representatives must maintain an ePCT account and configure ePCT eOwnership for each relevant application. Without proper access rights, important EPO communications will remain invisible online and response deadlines could be missed.

Firms will need to verify, by the June 1 cutover, that ePCT access rights are correctly assigned for every PCT case, that eNotification settings are enabled, and that the notification email addresses point to the current handling attorneys. The EPO has published guidance to streamline ePCT eOwnership registration; cases without registered eOwnership should be addressed early.

Service of process, deadline triggers, and the legal status of electronic delivery

Because the PCT calculates response deadlines from the date of notification, the switch to electronic delivery affects docketing practice. Under the typical ePCT model, a notification is treated as served when posted to the user’s account — more precisely trackable than paper mail but requiring firms to integrate ePCT eNotifications into their docketing workflows.

Large patent firms and corporate IP departments are accelerating integrations with ePCT’s API and bulk-download facilities to pipe notifications into their case-management systems automatically. Smaller firms and solo practitioners who built workflows around paper mail will need to redesign their intake processes.

The EPO’s broader paperless strategy

The ePCT switchover is part of a paperless agenda the EPO has been advancing throughout the 2020s. The agency has also moved European patent (EP) proceedings toward electronic delivery through the MyEPO portal, with MyEPO-delivered notifications becoming the default for many procedures from 2024 onward. The June 2026 PCT shift unifies the EP and PCT routes around a coherent electronic-communications foundation.

The EPO is targeting reduced paper handling costs, faster examination cycles, more reliable delivery, and improved applicant access to case information. The long-term goal is a workflow in which all interaction between examiner and applicant takes place online.

Implications for non-European applicants

For non-European applicants — particularly Japanese and US filers who use the EPO as ISA or pursue national-phase entry into Europe — the change directly affects operating procedures. Domestic patent firms will increasingly receive EPO correspondence without a European local-agent intermediary, raising the importance of ePCT eOwnership setup, controlled notification addresses, and automated ingestion of deadlines into internal systems before June 1.

Japanese applicants frequently designate the EPO as ISA at the PCT stage, and standardizing electronic receipt of search reports and written opinions can shorten the time to make EP-phase strategy decisions. The EPO recorded more than 200,000 PCT national-phase entries in 2025, a record level. The full transition to ePCT-based delivery will require some upfront investment in workflow adjustment but should, over time, deliver meaningful efficiency gains for European PCT practice.