The European Patent Office An introduction to the EPO and the - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Siobhán Yeats 6 July 2015 Director, JC Biotechnology

The European Patent Office

An introduction to the EPO and the European patent system

European Patent Office

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.

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European Patent Office

Our history

1973 5 October 1973 1977 2013 Diplomatic Conference in Munich Signature of the European Patent Convention (EPC) by 16 countries Entry into force of the EPC in 7 countries Foundation of the European Patent Organisation Foundation of the European Patent Office Celebration of 40 years of the EPC More on www.epo.org

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European Patent Office

Today....

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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

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),
• f whom 60% are examiners

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European Patent Office

European Patent Organisation Administrative Council European Patent Office The executive body

• is responsible for

searching, examining and publishing patent applications

• is responsible for holding
• pposition proceedings
• is responsible for appeal

proceedings before the boards of appeal The legislative body

• is made up of delegates

from the member states

• supervises the activities
• f the Office
• appoints the President
• votes on the Office's

budget

Structure of the European Patent Organisation

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European Patent Office

Structure of the European Patent Office

Directorates-General Operations DG 1

Guillaume Minnoye

Administration DG 4

Željko Topić

Legal/International Affairs DG 5

Raimund Lutz

President

Benoît Battistelli

Presidential area

DG 0

Patent Administration Quality Management Information Management Human Resources General Administration Central Procurement European and International Co-operation Patent Law and Multilateral Affairs Legal Services Patent Information and European Patent Academy Search Substantive Examination Opposition Business Services

Operational Support DG 2

Alberto Casado Cerviño

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Appeals DG 3

Wim van der Eijk

European Patent Office

A multicultural working environment

• Over 30 different nationalities
• Three languages for working in and for

communicating with applicants: − English − French − German

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European Patent Office

Three ways to start the European procedure

Applicant files a direct European application = 1st filing Applicant files a national application Applicant files a PCT application Applicant files a European application = 2nd filing1) Application enters European phase European search and examination procedure

European route National route International route

1) By claiming priority of an earlier application filed with a national office within 12 months.

European route National route International route

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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

• f appeal
• The EPO makes all patent documents

available to the public

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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.

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European Patent Office

Basic steps in the European grant procedure

Filing Search Grant Examination Opposition Appeal

Publication (18 months)

• f the

application and search report Publication

• f the patent

specification

Filing Search

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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

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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

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European Patent Office

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

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European Patent Office

All patent documents are accessible free of charge on www.epo.org

Espacenet

• ver 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.

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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

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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

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European Patent Office

Total European patent filings1)

1) Direct European filings under the EPC and international filings under the PCT.

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European Patent Office

Origin of European patent filings (2014)1)

20 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).

European Patent Office

Technical fields1) 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.

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European Patent Office

Top applicants seeking patent protection from the EPO in 20141)

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1) Based on European patent applications filed with the EPO.

European Patent Office

Granted patents (2014)1)

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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.

EPO Member states 51%

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

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