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The European Patent Office An introduction to the EPO and the European patent system

The European Patent Office An introduction to the EPO and the European patent system. Adapted and presented by: Branka Lakić, patent examiner Email: blakic@epo.org. Contents. Patents Ab out us What we do Quality Facts and figures. What is a patent?.

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The European Patent Office An introduction to the EPO and the European patent system

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  1. The European Patent OfficeAn introduction to the EPO and the European patent system Adapted and presented by: Branka Lakić, patent examiner Email: blakic@epo.org

  2. Contents • Patents • About us • What we do • Quality • Facts and figures

  3. What is a patent? • A patent is a legal title granting its holder the right to prevent third parties from commercially using an invention without authorisation. • In return for this protection, the holder has to disclose the invention to the public. • Protection is granted: • for a limited period, generally 20 years • for a specific geographic area

  4. What is patentable? • To be patentable, an invention must: • have a technical character (e.g. comprise a product, process or apparatus) • be new • involve an inventive step • be industrially applicable • Some innovations are not patentable under the EPC: • for example, mathematical methods or formulae, computer programs and business methods are as such not regarded as inventions • new plant or animal varieties and inventions whose commercial exploitation would be contrary to "ordre public" or morality (e.g. the cloning of human life) are examples of inventions excluded from patentability

  5. The benefits of patents For inventors, patents can • help safeguard financial returns from the commercial exploitation of the invention • give holders time to recoup their development costs • encourage further investment in R&D

  6. Contents • Patents • About us • What we do • Quality • Facts and figures

  7. The European Patent Convention • The European Patent Convention (EPC) • provides the legal framework for the granting of European patents via a centralised procedure • establishes the European Patent Organisation • 1973 – Diplomatic Conference in Munich ► signature of the EPC by 16 countries • 1977 – Entry into force of the EPC in 7 countries - marked as follows

  8. European Patent Organisation Administrative Council European Patent Office • The executive body • responsible for examining European patent applications • The legislative body • made up of delegates from themember states • supervises the activities of the Office • has a specific legislative function Structure of the European Patent Organisation

  9. 35 member states Austria • Belgium • Bulgaria • Croatia • Cyprus • Czech Republic • Denmark • Estonia • Finland • France • Germany •Greece • Hungary • Iceland • Ireland • Italy • Latvia • Liechtenstein • Lithuania •Luxembourg • Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia • Malta • Monaco • Netherlands • Norway • Poland • Portugal • Romania • Slovakia • Slovenia • Spain • Sweden • Switzerland • Turkey • United Kingdom European patent applications and patents can also be extended at the applicant's request to the following states: Albania • Bosnia-Herzegovina • Serbia Status: January 2009

  10. Autonomy • Not an EU institution • Self-financing, i.e. revenuefrom fees covers operatingand capital expenditure

  11. Locations The EPO has offices at five different locations. Its headquarters are in Munich.

  12. Munich 3 629 The Hague 2 659 Berlin 276 Vienna 117 Brussels 4 Total 6 685 Number of staff Around 60% are patent examiners Status: December 2008

  13. Country Number of staff Country Number of staff PT Portugal LU Luxembourg AT Austria SI Slovenia ES Spain BE Belgium CZ Czech Republic SK Slovakia CY Cyprus SE Sweden CH Switzerland BG Bulgaria TR Turkey DK Denmark EE Estonia Others LV Latvia LT Lithuania FI Finland PL Poland GB United Kingdom NL Netherlands GR Greece HU Hungary HR Croatia IE Ireland IS Iceland MT Malta IT Italy LI Liechtenstein RO Romania • 74 • 6 • 69 • 48 • 237 • 514 • 82 • 25 • 2 • 497 • 357 • 30 • 4 • 160 • 426 • 26 • 8 • 3 • 4 • 20 • 107 • 14 • 618 • 15 • 73 • 124 • 2 • 85 • 1 • 1 • 56 DE Germany • 1 807 FR France • 1 190 Total • 6 685 Staff from 32 different countries Status: December 2008

  14. Contents • Patents • About us • What we do • Quality • Facts and figures

  15. Our role in the European patent system • We provide patent protection in up to 38 European countries based on a single application in one of the three official languages (German, English, French) European patent applications can be filed: • direct with the EPO • via the national patent offices of the contracting states • based on an international (PCT) application • We are also responsible for • limitation and revocation proceedings by patentees • opposition proceedings by third parties • appeal proceedings before the Boards of Appeal

  16. Our role in the international (PCT) system • We process international patent applications • we act as a receiving office for international applications (PCT) • we carry out international search and preliminary examination procedures

  17. Other services • Free online services • filing • fee payment • file inspection • tracking of legal status of applications • Free patent information services • online access to all European patent documents (updated weekly) • simple online searches in our database of over 60 million patent applications • helpdesk staffed by experts on the Japanese, Chinese and Korean patent systems • http://ep.espacenet.com; http://hr.espacenet.com • Training • conferences • workshops and seminars • e-learning

  18. Overview of European patent grant procedure (I) Refusal or withdrawal of application Validation in designated states European patent application Applicant Filing and formalities examination Substantive examination Grant of European patent Search and search report together with preliminary opinion on patentability EPO Publication of patent specification Publication of application and search report Online access to application file and legal status information Observations by third parties possible Public domain

  19. Limitation or revocation proceedings Appeal proceedings Opposition proceedings Overview of European patent grant procedure (II) Refusal of application Applicant Substantive examination Grant of European patent EPO Opposition by third parties possible Public domain

  20. Content of a patent application • Request for the grant of a European patent • Description of the invention • Claims • Drawings • Abstract.

  21. Search report • Listing of the state of the art documents along withpublication data (applicant, publication date) • A letter code (X, Y, A) identifying relation to the application • An indication of the most relevant parts of documents

  22. How much a European patent costs • Fees for • filing, • search, • designation of states, • claims (if more than fifteen), • examination, • grant and • printing • Average EUR 4 920 (or EUR 4 840 if the application was filed online) to take a patent application with seven or more designated states through to the grant stage. • Translation and maintenance fees

  23. Contents • Patents • About us • What we do • Quality • Facts and figures

  24. Highly skilled examiners • Top-level engineers and scientists • high degree of technical expertise • knowledge of the EPO's three official languages • Training during first two years • extensive legal and procedural training • individual coaching by experienced examiners

  25. Contents • Patents • About us • What we do • Quality • Facts and figures

  26. Comprehensive search documentation • World's largest collection of patent and non-patent literature documents, containing more than 400 million records in over 100 databases and updated daily • Online access to more than 6 000 journals via the EPO Virtual Library • New tools and services such as machine translation to extend the range of easily accessible information • Ongoing efforts to improve the scope and quality of our documentation

  27. Rigorous controls and commitment to improvement • Up-to-date guidelines and instructions for examiners • Spot-checks on search reports and patent quality • Internal quality audits

  28. Applications filed Direct European filings Euro-PCT applications entering the regional phase

  29. European patents granted

  30. Applications by residence of applicant (2008)

  31. 63 736 Technical fields with the most filings (2008) Number of applications

  32. High-growth technical fields (at least 500 applications filed in 2008) 1 074 522 655 532 737 2 365 735 502 2 109 539 Number of applications in 2008 % growth in number of applications 2008 vs. 2007

  33. Leading applicants and patentees in 2008 Applications Granted European patents

  34. Oppositions in 2008 Oppositions were filed against 5% of granted European patents. Over one third of all opposed patents were revoked. Opposition rejected Patent revoked 28.6% 39.8% 5% Oppositions 31.6% Granted patents Patent maintained in amended form

  35. Need more information? www.epo.org info@epo.org Tel. +49(0)89 2399-4636

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