The EPO has announced (link) that its Administrative Council has adopted a new rule (EPC Rule 36) from 01 April 2010 which removes the ability to file divisional applications at any time up until grant of the parent application.
"As of 1 April 2010, divisional applications on the applicant's own initiative will need to be filed within a period of two years from the first communication by the EPO examining division in respect of the parent (i.e. the previous) or an even earlier (in case of a "chain" of applications) application. Divisional applications filed as a reaction to a non-unity objection (so-called mandatory divisional applications) will also have to be filed within 24 months from the communication in which the relevant objection is raised by the examining division for the first time."
I do not think that this new rule serves the Applicants since it really complicates the prosecution and limits the right to file the application. Moreover, most of the countries allow filing a divisional application until grant of the patent so this goes against the "common" practice. If this is a tactic to reduce backlog, I find that it has a huge price tag.
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