Technical details - EPO Global Patent Index

Content description

The EPO Global Patent Index product (GPI) combines the EPO worldwide data collection available in esp@cenet with the search capabilities offered by the MIMOSA retrieval software (MS Windows application).

In addition to the patent bibliographic data from more than 80 patent offices, GPI also provides additional information such as legal status data, retrieved on the fly via Open Patent Services (OPS). Links to complete documents in esp@cenet as well as to the IPC are also available.

Recommended use

GPI allows users to carry out  worldwide state-of-the-art searches and patent watches.

Type of documents and data coverage

See the EPO worldwide data collection (see "Contents and coverage of the DOCDB bibliographic file") for the type of documents and coverage from each country.

Update frequency

GPI is updated on a weekly basis (every Monday at 14.00 CET).

Searchable fields

GPI offers around a hundred different search criteria, including:

• patent bibliographic data
• citations: patent and non-patent literature  (from applicants, search reports, examination phase, opposition phase or third parties), and citation categories in search reports
• classifications: IPC 1-8, ECLA, ICO and national classifications
• families: simple family (representatives, members)
• designations: PCT, EPC and extensions
• titles and abstracts: proximity search

See the Annex for the complete list of search criteria.

Special features

GPI includes many features to enable detailed and professional searching and customised output of results:

• search strategies can be saved for re-use
• the bibliographic data is fully downloadable
• detailed coverage information on individual fields is easily accessible
• using the latest MIMOSA retrieval software, the information can be selectively downloaded or printed
• hyperlinks are included enabling you to access the complete documents on esp@cenet,

Sample data

View an EP record (PDF, 35 KB)
View a PCT record (PDF, 51 KB)
View a US record (PDF, 46 KB)

Annex  (Table with all search criteria)