Not true. You don’t have to fire your US patent agent in order to prosecute an application in the EPO. However, your US agent will not be heard in the EPO – in other words, you must have a ‘local’ agent for representation in the EPO. While no european agents are listed in this site so far, you can find a good US patent agent at: US Patent Agents

Thanks so much patent agent, a well meaning friend signed me up with a crooked agent here in the
u.k.and i feel silly for even posing the question now.
He spoke such nonsense it was unbelievable, and very disturbing.
cheers again

it might be best to contact the U.S. PTO directly and tell them you have a non U.S. application pending and would like to represent your self (Pro Se) instead of using the original patent agent if possible and would like know how to proceed. I’m not certain how the EPO works. Maybe they also have a pro se process.

pro se is fine – if you understand the system and rules. It is a complex system. I was an inventor; I wanted to save money and do it ‘pro se’. But I also wanted to do it right. So, I took two years to learn the details. This is how I became a patent agent. It all started by wanting to save on attorney fees. If you have two years to give, go for it. For those who can’t spend the time it takes to learn the patent system, you are stuck paying between 5 and 10 thousand for a patent. It is expensive for sure; but sometimes it is more expensive doing it yourself – or worse – not doing it at all.

cheers for the replies guys, more food for thought