Regarding the EPC, the following 4 observations can be made:

1. Multiple sources of information have to be consulted to interpret the EPC.
2. Most law books and reference books are purely black and white text books.
3. Legal text often has to be read several times in order to grasp its true meaning.
4. Valuable time is lost by having to consult different parts within one or more information sources.

Integration

Information from several sources is needed for a correct interpretation of the EPC, such as the EPO Guidelines, the Case Law of the Boards of Appeal of the EPO, the Euro PCT Guide, etc. This causes your desk to be full of opened books and your brain to somewhat lose the overview. This issue was handled by integrating information from these different sources into a single reference work: the Integrated EPC Guide.

Functional coloring and Icons

The human brain is divided in a left and a right hemisphere. It is widely accepted that the left hemisphere thinks linear, in text and in black and white, while the right hemisphere is creative, thinks in color and is responsible for dreaming. The highest efficiency in reading and learning is reached when both hemispheres work together. When reading legal text in black and white, only the left hemisphere is put to work, while the right hemisphere wanders off and starts dreaming, for example of drinking a cocktail on a  white sand beach with palm trees.

Adding color is only of value, when it fulfills a function. Functional coloring text can be for instance using a green colour when something is positive, possible or has a positive outcome,… and using red when it is negative, not possible or has a negative outcome. Also a fixed colored background helps to focus. For example, a blue background for the articles of the EPC and a pink background for the implementing rules in the EPC. 

Icons, when given a distinct meaning, can be used for speeding up the reading and retrieval process. For instance, they can be combined in schematical representations for procedural acts:

Text branching

Inspired by the use of mindmaps in highschool, a new reading technique was developed for ensuring that complicated legal text can be easily digested. Legal text is chopped up in meaningful parts and arranged in branches, which are read in order from left to right and from top to bottom. To further facilitate reading, some common and frequently used wording has been abbreviated, e.g. "Enlarged Board of Appeal" becomes "EBoA".  All abbreviations are listed on the back cover of each book.

Here below an example is shown for Rule 108 EPC where the following text:

Rule 108 Examination of the petition

(1) If the petition does not comply with Article 112a, paragraphs 1, 2 or 4, Rule 106 or Rule 107, paragraph 1(b) or 2, the Enlarged Board of Appeal shall reject it as inadmissible, unless any defect has been remedied before the relevant period under Article 112a, paragraph 4, expires.
(2) If the Enlarged Board of Appeal notes that the petition does not comply with Rule 107, paragraph 1(a), it shall communicate this to the petitioner and shall invite him to remedy the deficiencies noted within a period to be specified. If the deficiencies are not remedied in due time, the Enlarged Board of Appeal shall reject the petition as inadmissible.
(3) if the petition is allowable, the Enlarged Board of Appeal shall set aside the decision of the Board of Appeal and order the re-opening of the proceedings before the Board of Appeal responsible under Rule 12b, paragraph 4. The Enlarged Board of Appeal may order that members of the Board of Appeal who participated in taking the decision set aside shall be replaced.

is transformed into:

No contents table

It may be surprising that no contents table is present in the Integrated EPC Guide. However, this was done on purpose. In se, the European Patent Convention is a well-structured law having articles and rules grouped in specific parts and chapters. The parts in the EPC more or less follow a chronological order in the life of a patent application to a patent, but a downside is that articles and rules are each located in a separate section of the EPC. In the Integrated EPC Guide, the structure of the EPC articles is used as a coat rack for the related Implementing Rules. In addition to the EPC Rules being present at the relevant Article, also information related to a certain EPC Article and present in other information sources, such as the EPO Guidelines and the Caselaw book, have been integrated at the relevant EPC Article. This way, only the structure of the Articles in the EPC has this to be memorized and a contents table becomes obsolete. Nevertheless as a help for fast retrieval, each part in the Integrated EPC Guide starts with an overview of the chapters, the articles and rules belonging to that part, together with some other references to legal texts, such as certain Protocols or the Paris Convention.

Curious on how this all comes together ?