As it may be already known, the European Patent Office (EPO) has changed the formal rules in order to accept coloured or greyscale drawings. 

Situation at the EPO

Since 1 October 2025, the EPO accepts filings of colour or greyscale drawings if submitted via any of the EPO’s electronic filing tools. This coloured or greyscale drawings are not allowable via paper filing. The register of the EPO enables also the inspection of coloured and greyscale drawings.

How does the EPO deal with PCT applications
It should be noted that the PCT Rules have not yet changed. Thus, coloured drawings are not admissible under the PCT. Filed coloured drawings are converted by the International Bureau (IB) to black and white for the international publication.

The original version in colour or greyscale is retained by the IB and made available to the public and national patent offices on the website of the WIPO (PATENTSCOPE). The availability of the version as filed in colour/greyscale is indicated on the cover page of the international publication.

On entry of the European Phase (Euro-PCT), the EPO accepts since October 1st, 2025 drawings in colour or greyscale on the condition that they are available on the website of the WIPO and the international publication mentions "in black and white; the international application as filed contained color or greyscale and is available for download from PATENTSCOPE". If this is not mentioned and/or the drawings are not available on PATENTSCOPE, the EPO will process the application on the published drawings.

If translations are filed, the translations may also contain coloured or greyscale drawings, provided that such coloured or greyscale drawings have been originally filed.

Nevertheless, care should be taken, as not all patent offices accept coloured drawings.

This IP Alert is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.