The current edition has been completely revised by Prof. Dr. Goddar and Christian W. Appelt and expanded to include the UPC regulations.

Published in Japan and in the Japanese language, the EPC Handbook for Practitioners provides a practice-oriented overview of the essential principles and procedures before the European Patent Office, particularly for Japanese patent attorneys and in-house patent experts of Japanese companies.

The handbook explains the requirements for the patentability of inventions, the course of application, search and examination proceedings up to the grant of a patent before the European Patent Office, as well as the most important procedural steps in opposition and appeal proceedings. Particular consideration is given to developments in the Guidelines for Examination before the European Patent Office that are relevant for practical application, as well as to the current case law of the Technical Boards of Appeal and the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO).
Furthermore, all procedural steps required for obtaining a Unitary Patent (UP) and/or the possibilities for selecting additional or alternative validations under the EPC, as well as potentially advisable opt-out requests, are discussed in a practical manner.

The fully revised new edition by Christian W. Appelt and Prof. Dr. Heinz Goddar now also covers the regulations of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) as well as infringement and revocation proceedings before the UPC.

Ms. Megumi Konishi and Mr. Shigeyuki Nagaoka once again supported this project, in particular with regard to the preparation of a practical Japanese translation and with valuable suggestions and comments on topics of relevance to Japanese patent professionals.

The new edition of the EPC Handbook for Practitioners was published in Japanese on July 13, 2026, and can be ordered from the Japanese publisher under ISBN 978-4-911395-01-1 here.