According to official The Java EE 6 Tutorial in http://download.oracle.com/javaee/6/tutorial/doc/gjbbk.html - "Beans that use session, application, or conversation scope must be serializable, but beans that use request scope do not have to be serializable." However JBDS offers Quick Fix only for beans using session scope, not application or conversation scope. In my opinion, JBDS should highlight beans using these scopes and offer the same Quick Fix wizard as in session scope case.