EUROPEAN PATENT CONVENTION 1973 - Table of Contents CONVENTION PART II - SUBSTANTIVE PATENT LAW Chapter II - Persons entitled to apply for and obtain European patents - Mention of the inventor Article 60 - Right to a European patent

Article 60 35 Right to a European patent

Art. 61, 80, 89, 138

(1) The right to a European patent shall belong to the inventor or his successor in title. If the inventor is an employee the right to the European patent shall be determined in accordance with the law of the State in which the employee is mainly employed; if the State in which the employee is mainly employed cannot be determined, the law to be applied shall be that of the State in which the employer has his place of business to which the employee is attached.

(2) If two or more persons have made an invention independently of each other, the right to the European patent shall belong to the person whose European patent application has the earliest date of filing; however, this provision shall apply only if this first application has been published under Article 93 and shall only have effect in respect of the Contracting States designated in that application as published.

(3) For the purposes of proceedings before the European Patent Office, the applicant shall be deemed to be entitled to exercise the right to the European patent.

35 See decisions/opinions of the Enlarged Board of Appeal G 3/92, G 2/98, G 1/03, G 2/03 (Annex I).