The European Patent Office An introduction to the EPO and the European patent system Siobhán Yeats Director, JC Biotechnology 6 July 2015
Our 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. 2 European Patent Office
Our history 1973 Diplomatic Conference in Munich 5 October 1973 Signature of the European Patent Convention (EPC) by 16 countries 1977 Entry into force of the EPC in 7 countries Foundation of the European Patent Organisation Foundation of the European Patent Office 2013 Celebration of 40 years of the EPC More on www.epo.org 3 European Patent Office
Today.... 38 European member states Belgium • Germany • France • Luxembourg Netherlands • Switzerland • United Kingdom Sweden • Italy • Austria • Liechtenstein Greece • Spain • Denmark • Monaco Portugal • Ireland • Finland • Cyprus Turkey • Bulgaria • Czech Republic Estonia • Slovakia • Slovenia • Hungary Romania • Poland • Iceland • Lithuania Latvia • Malta • Croatia • Norway Former Yugoslav Rep. of Macedonia San Marino • Albania • Serbia 2 European extension states Bosnia- Herzegovina • Montenegro 1 Validation state Morocco 4 European Patent Office
Our status Second-largest intergovernmental institution in Europe Not an EU institution Self-financing, i.e. revenue from fees covers operating and capital expenditure Five locations and 6,892 staff (2014), of whom 60% are examiners 5 European Patent Office
Structure of the European Patent Organisation European Patent Organisation Administrative Council European Patent Office The legislative body The executive body is made up of delegates is responsible for from the member states searching, examining and supervises the activities publishing patent of the Office applications appoints the President is responsible for holding votes on the Office's opposition proceedings is responsible for appeal budget proceedings before the boards of appeal 6 European Patent Office
Structure of the European Patent Office President Presidential area Benoît Battistelli DG 0 Directorates-General Operations Administration Operational Legal/International Appeals Support Affairs DG 1 DG 2 DG 4 DG 5 DG 3 Alberto Casado Željko Topić Wim van der Guillaume Raimund Lutz Cerviño Eijk Minnoye Search European Patent Administration Human Resources Substantive Examination and Opposition International Co-operation Quality Management General Administration Patent Law Business Services and Information Management Central Procurement Multilateral Affairs Legal Services Patent Information and European Patent Academy 7 European Patent Office
A multicultural working environment Over 30 different nationalities Three languages for working in and for communicating with applicants: − English − French − German 8 European Patent Office
Three ways to start the European procedure European route European route Applicant files a direct European application = 1st filing European National route National route search and Applicant files a Applicant files a European application examination national application = 2nd filing 1) procedure International route International route Applicant files a Application enters European phase PCT application 1) By claiming priority of an earlier application filed with a national office within 12 months. 9 European Patent Office
The role of the EPO in the European grant procedure We provide patent protection − in up to 40 European countries and Morocco (validation state) − based on a single application − in one of the three official languages (English, French, German) We are also responsible for − limitation and revocation proceedings by patentees − opposition proceedings by third parties − appeal proceedings before the boards of appeal The EPO makes all patent documents available to the public 10 European Patent Office
The EPO also processes international (PCT) applications We act as a receiving office for international applications (PCT) We carry out approximately: − 40% of all international search procedures − 48% of all international preliminary examinations The EPO delivers the international search report within 3 months* * From the date of receipt of the application by the International Searching Authority. 11 European Patent Office
Basic steps in the European grant procedure Filing Filing Search Search Examination Grant Opposition Appeal Publication (18 months) Publication of the of the patent application specification and search report 12 European Patent Office
Key components of the EPO's patent quality policy Highly skilled examiners − extensive training and continuous professional development State-of-the-art searches Thorough procedures and review processes Quality controls and an ongoing commitment to improvement 13 European Patent Office
State-of-the-art searches World's largest collection of documents − over 800 million records of patent and non-patent literature documents in over 120 databases − more than 7 000 journals − databases updated daily High-performance EPOQUE search tool − used by examiners − a worldwide benchmark − used by over 40 patent offices, including Australia, Brazil and China Machine translation to extend the range of easily accessible information European Patent Office 14
Quality controls and commitment to improvement Guidelines and instructions for examiners Spot-checks on search reports and examination quality Internal quality audits ISO 9001 certified Quality Management System European Patent Office 15
All patent documents are accessible free of charge on www.epo.org Espacenet over 90 million patent documents, easily searchable, around 20 million visits per year Patent Translate Automatic translation between English and 31 other languages, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Russian. 16 European Patent Office
Training organised by the European Patent Academy Training on IP and our services and tools for − applicants and attorneys − judges − patent office staff − universities and research centres − businesses and SMEs An extensive collection of free e-learning materials on www.epo.org/learning 17 European Patent Office
Raising awareness − European Inventor Award Honours outstanding inventors Five categories and an international jury of experts Popular prize awarded for the first time in 2013 Target audience: decision-makers in business, politics, science and the media In a different location in Europe every year A major media campaign with worldwide impact 18 European Patent Office
Total European patent filings 1) 1) Direct European filings under the EPC and international filings under the PCT. 19 European Patent Office
Origin of European patent filings (2014) 1) DE: Germany I FR: France I CH: Switzerland I NL: Netherlands I GB: United Kingdom US: United States I JP: Japan I CN: P.R. China I KR: R. Korea I EPO: European Patent Organisation Shares in Direct European filings under the European Patent Convention (EPC) and international filings under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). 20 European Patent Office
Technical fields 1) with the most applications (2014) 2) 1) Classified according to the IPC and technology concordance table as revised in January 2013 2) Based on European patent applications filed with the EPO. 21 European Patent Office
Top applicants seeking patent protection from the EPO in 2014 1) 1) Based on European patent applications filed with the EPO. 22 European Patent Office
Granted patents (2014) 1) EPO Member states 51% DE: Germany I FR: France I CH: Switzerland I NL: Netherlands I GB: United Kongdom US: United States I JP: Japan I CN: P.R. China I KR: South Korea I EPO: European Patent Organisation 1) Analysis based on granted patents in 2014. Patents have been allocated to the country of residence of the first-named patentee. 23 European Patent Office
Need more information? Visit www.epo.org Contact us at www.epo.org/contact Follow us on www.facebook.com/ europeanpatentoffice twitter.com/EPOorg www.youtube.com/EPOfilms www.linkedin.com/company/ european-patent-office 24 European Patent Office
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