I just heard a rumor that the administrative council of the European Patent Office (EPO) has voted to amend the rule setting a 24-month time limit within which European divisional applications may be filed. According to the rumor, the only criteria for filing a divisional application would be that the EPO application be pending as of the divisional filing date. This change is supposed to take effect as of April 1, 2014.

I’ll let you know if this is correct or not!