Following a Board meeting on 21 May 2026, IPReg has confirmed that a pass in EQE Paper M3 will be recognised as equivalent to the competencies assessed in the UK Patent Examination Board drafting (FD2) and amendment (FD3) papers.
Prior to the introduction of the new EQE exams, candidates who passed the EQE did not need to also pass the UK FD2 and FD3 papers, since these were considered “equivalent” to EQE Paper A and Paper B, respectively.
However, the “legacy” EQE Papers A and B were run for the last time in 2025, and moving forwards it was unclear whether new EQE paper M3 would be sufficiently equivalent to Papers A and B to provide an exemption for candidates.
Today's announcement from IPREG also states that it will recognise “mixed routes” comprising a pass in legacy Paper A together with M3 Part 2, or a pass in legacy Paper B together with M3 Part 1. Existing exemptions and recognition arrangements remain unchanged, such that passes in legacy Papers A and B, and the full legacy EQE, will continue to be recognised for UK qualification purposes.
IPREG's announcement includes a link to the full report on the mapping exercise, which highlights (among other things) that:
- Equivalence is based on demonstrating key professional skills (knowledge application, judgment, drafting, analysis, decision-making), not identical exam formats.
- Evaluation found M3 meets the required standard, requiring complex legal reasoning, risk evaluation, and autonomous professional judgment under pressure.
- Strong quality assurance, governance, and marking controls support its reliability, despite limited live data from the new modular format.
- Continuity with the previously accepted EQE system reinforces confidence that standards are maintained.
The IPREG report also recommends that reviews of the arrangement are conducted after the first full exam cycle, at year three of the new EQEs, and every five years (or after major changes) to confirm ongoing equivalence.
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