Post on 27-Mar-2015
The European Patent Office and the patent granting procedure
Heli PihlajamaaEuropean Patent OfficeDirectorate Patent Law (5.2.1)
10.12.2009
European Patent Office - Mission
As the patent office for Europe,
we support innovation, competitiveness
and economic growth across Europe
through a commitment to high quality
and efficient services delivered under
the European Patent Convention.
The European Patent Office
The European Patent Convention
• Establishes the European Patent Organisation
• Provides a system of law for the granting of European patents via a centralised procedure - one language, one procedure
• European patents have the effect and are subject to the same conditions as a national patent
• Validation after the grant of the European patent - postponing and avoiding costs for translation
• Centralized opposition, limitation and revocation procedure
The European Patent Office
Structure of the European Patent Organisation
The legislative body
made up of delegates from the member states
supervises the activities of the Office
has a specific legislative function
European Patent Organisation
Administrative CouncilEuropean Patent Office
The executive body
responsible for examiningEuropean patent applications
On the basis of bilateral agreements acting as RO, ISA and IPEA under the Patent Co-operation Treaty (PCT)
The European Patent Office
36 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 • San Marino • 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: July 2009
The European Patent Office
Locations
The Hague Patent grant procedureInformation managementAdministrationLegal services
Vienna
Patent informationAdministrationEuropean affairs
Berlin
Patent grant procedureAdministration
Munichheadquarters
Brussels
Relations with the European
institutions and other
organisations/
associations
Munich
Patent grant procedureAppealsQuality managementAdministrationLegal servicesInternational affairs
The European Patent Office
Number of staff
Munich 3 629
The Haag 2 659
Berlin 276
Vienna 117
Brussels 4
Total 6 685
Around 60 % are patent examiners.
Stand: December 2008
The European Patent Office
The European patent
AdvantagesPatentability criteria Grant procedureKey figuresCost
The European patent
What advantages does a European patent have?
Unitary protection standards in the contracting states
• One application, one language, one procedure
• “A la carte” market by possibility of excluding countries from designation
Cost effective
Cost effective when protection is sought in at least four contracting states
Strong
• Thorough search – 169 million documents
• Substantive examination = sound legal protection
The European patent
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 as such are 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
The European Patent
The grant procedure at a glance
Search and searchreport togetherwith a preliminaryopinion onpatentability
Europeanpatentapplication
Filing andformalitiesexamination
Publication ofthe patentspecification
Applicant
EuropeanPatentOffice
Public domain
Substantiveexamination
Grant of aEuropean patent
Oppositionproceedings
Appealproceedings
Limitation orrevocationproceedings
Refusal of theapplication
Validation in the designated states
Publication ofthe applicationand searchreport
Observations bythird parties possible
The European Patent
EPO Fees
Total procedural fees EUR 4 825
Online applications EUR 4 745
Grant phase EUR 1 290
Examination phase EUR 2 305
Filing phase EUR 1230
Online applications EUR 1150
The European Patent
Fees and some reductions
• Filing fee (€180 or online filing €100) including additional fee (€12 for the 36th and each subsequent page)
• Search fee (€1050) (Reduction of the search fee in certain cases, for example when the earlier application was searched by the EPO as a national application)
• Where appropriate, claims fees (€200 for the sixteenth and each subsequent claim and €500 for the 51st and each subsequent claim)
• Translation - 20% reduction of filing, search and examination fees, when non-official languages of the EPO being official languages of the Contracting States are used (Art. 14 EPC)
• Designation fee for one or more contracting states (€500)
The European patent
78 684
62 755
83 548
63 013
0 90 000
2007 2008
Applications filed
Direct European filings
Euro-PCT applications entering the regional phase
Applications by residence of applicant (2008)
European patents granted
54 700
59 819
0 64 000
2007
2008
Patent revoked
Patent maintained in amended form
Opposition rejected
39.8%
31.6%
28.6%
Oppositions in 2008
Oppositions were filed against 5% of granted European patents. Over one third of all opposed patents were revoked.
5% Oppositions
Granted patents
Relating to EP or PCT patent granting procedure:
EPO Information Office Munich
infomunich@epo.org
Tel +49-89-23994512
EPO Customer Services
info@epo.org
Tel +49-89-2399INFO (2399 -4636)
Thank you for your attention !