A Notable Change in Filing Practice
The European Patent Office (EPO) now accepts and publishes color and grayscale drawings in European patent applications.
Legal Framework of the Decision
In accordance with the decision of the President of the EPO of July 7, 2025, concerning the presentation of applications and other documents:
“When filed electronically, drawings may also be produced in color or grayscale, with lines, strokes, or areas that are durable, of uniform thickness, and well defined. They must also have sufficient contrast and be suitable for clear display at a resolution of 300 dpi.”
Scope and Conditions
This decision applies to applications filed after October 1, 2025, whether filed directly with the EPO or PCT applications entering the European regional phase.
In the latter case, however, the color or grayscale drawings of the application filed in the international PCT phase must be available on PATENTSCOPE (WIPO’s database) and the international publication must mention it. The PCT publication will nevertheless be made with drawings converted into black and white.
Limited International Harmonization
While the EPO’s decision to allow color drawings in European patent applications is a development that meets users’ expectations, it should be noted that the provisions in this area continue to vary from one intellectual property office to another.
In particular, the South Korean patent office is the only other office to accept color drawings without any special conditions, while the US and Chinese offices only accept color drawings if color is necessary to explain the technical content of an application, and the Japanese office does not yet accept them.
Practical Recommendations
It is therefore still preferable to continue filing black and white drawings until the practice of accepting color drawings becomes widespread.
If color conveys technical meaning and it is therefore preferable to file color drawings, a patent application must be prepared that also allows conversion to black and white without loss of information.
November 2025
Contributing author
Laurent Kurtz
Partner | European Patent Attorney