Quick Navigation

Print
 

How to get a European patent

 
 
Guide for Applicants - Part 1 - Table of Contents  
A. General Foreword B. Patentability  
III. Relationship to other international conventions II. Nature and purpose of the European Patent Convention IV. Choosing a route: national, European or international  

III.

Relationship to other international conventions


7

The EPC constitutes a special agreement within the meaning of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.



This means in particular that the principles of the Paris Convention on claiming priority and the national treatment principle also apply in the European procedure and to European applications.

Art. 87-89




Since nearly all the contracting states of the EPC are members of the WTO, the relevant provisions of the TRIPS Agreement (Agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights) are implemented in the revised EPC.


8

The EPC further constitutes a regional patent treaty within the meaning of Article 45(1) PCT, which means that European patents can be granted on the basis of an international application filed under the PCT. The Euro-PCT Guide (Part 2 of the present Guide, "Euro-PCT") deals with this filing route. It can be obtained free of charge from the EPO Information Offices at all sites or downloaded from the EPO website (www.epo.org).

Art. 150-153

R. 157-165

Guid. A-VII;
Guid. E-IX



9

The EPC also forms the basis for the implementation of the planned EC Regulation on the Community Patent, intended in particular to provide for the uniform effect of European patents granted by the EPO for the territory of the EC (Community patents) and to create a centralised Community patent court (see Proposal for a Council Regulation on the Community patent, COM(2000) 412 final, which can be found on the European Union website at http://www.europa.eu). However, the Regulation on the Community patent has not yet entered into force. The same applies to the European Patent Litigation Agreement (EPLA), which aims to establish a unitary litigation system for European patents. Further information about these initiatives is available on the EPO's website at www.epo.org.