News from the European Patent Office http://www.epo.org/rss/news.xml en European Patent Office website@epo.org website@epo.org Apache Lenya 2.0.x http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2013/20130522.htmlSome 1.98 million patent applications were filed at the world's five largest patent offices last year, according to preliminary data just released by the EPO, JPO, KIPO, SIPO and USPTO, collectively known as the IP5. Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:00 +0200http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2013/20130516a.htmlA new study by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the European Patent Office (EPO) -Patents and Clean Energy Technologies in Africa- found that Africa has a huge untapped potential for generating clean energy.Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 +0200http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2013/20130516.htmlOn an official visit to Slovakia, EPO President Benoît Battistelli, met with Prime Minister Robert Fico, the Minister of Economy Tomáš Malatinský and other representatives of government, industry and academia to discuss how to further strengthen the patent system to promote innovation and economic growth in Slovakia and Europe. Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 +0200http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2013/20130507.htmlAround 300 senior representatives of industry, academia and government gathered at a two day-conference organised jointly by the EPO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Technische Universität München (TUM) to look at how to create markets out of research results.Tue, 07 May 2013 00:00:00 +0200http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2013/20130426a.html In an official visit to Luxembourg President Benoît Battistelli met with the Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade, Etienne Schneider, the Head of the IP office, Lex Kaufhold, as well as with representatives of the national industry, the Business Federation of Luxembourg (FEDIL), and patent attorneys to discuss how the patent system can further encourage innovation in Luxembourg and Europe. Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0200http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2013/20130417.htmlThe EPO and the International Electrotechnical Commission have agreed to work closely together by facilitating the EPO use of IEC's standardisation documents in all phases of its patenting process.Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0200http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2013/20130411a.htmlAn opposition division of the EPO has decided to revoke the European patent in the so-called "Brüstle" case in public oral proceedings held today.Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0200http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2013/20130411.htmlThe EPO has signed an agreement with the Institut français to boost French language training across Europe. Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0200http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2013/20130410.htmlThe award is presented annually to outstanding inventors in five categories. For the first time, the public is invited to cast their vote to select the winner of the Popular Prize.Wed, 10 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0200http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2013/20130326.htmlDuring its 135th session, the Council re-elected Mr Jesper Kongstad as its Chair, for a three year mandate which will start on 1 July 2013.Tue, 26 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0100http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2013/20130320a.htmlThis is a further milestone after the adoption of the unitary patent package in December 2012 and the signing last month of the international agreement on the Unified Patent Court.Wed, 20 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0100http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2013/20130320.htmlThe EPO has signed agreements on language training with the British Council and the Goethe-Institut in a bid to strengthen the use of the EPO's three official languages in those 27 member states that do not have English, French or German as official languages. Wed, 20 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0100http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2013/20130313.htmlThe EPO's Economic and Scientific Advisory Board has issued a statement with recommendations for improving the patent system, based on the main findings of its 2012 activities.Wed, 13 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0100http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2013/20130306.html“The growth of filings from European businesses is a clear indication that industry here has opted to innovate its way out of the economic crisis”, EPO President Benoît Battistelli said. Wed, 06 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0100http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2013/20130306a.html "The EPO is a driving force for innovation, and thereby, for competitiveness and economic growth," he said. Wed, 06 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0100http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2013/20130219.htmlThe European Patent Office (EPO) welcomes the signing by EU ministers today in Brussels of an international agreement establishing a Unified Patent Court (UPC), which paves the way for the implementation of a unitary patent system in Europe.Tue, 19 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0100http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2013/20130117.htmlWith 63% of the filings, a clear majority came from non-European countries (2011: 62%), while the share from the 38 EPO member states was 37% (2011: 38%).Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0100http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2013/20130116.htmlThe EPO has revoked the Amazon “Gift order” patent after holding public oral proceedings in a first-instance opposition procedure.Wed, 16 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0100http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2013/20130102.htmlThe EPO and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today launched the Cooperative Patent Classification scheme (CPC), a global classification system for patent documents.Wed, 02 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0100http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2012/20121211.htmlThe EPO welcomed the adoption by the European Parliament in Strasbourg today of two draft regulations on the creation of the unitary patent, hailing it as a historic achievement.Tue, 11 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0100http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2012/20121207.htmlImproving the exchange of data between the two offices and enhancing patent quality globally were two of the main topics in focus at the annual bilateral meeting of the European Patent Office (EPO) and the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China (SIPO), which took place yesterday in Brussels.Fri, 07 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0100http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2012/20121206.htmlBreaking new ground in providing access to the most comprehensive technological information, the EPO and the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China (SIPO) today launched the Chinese-English component of the EPO's free automatic translation service Patent Translate. Thu, 06 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0100http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2012/20121204.htmlThis conference, hosted by the OECD in Paris in collaboration with the EPO, is one of the most important events for patent statistics worldwide.Tue, 04 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0100http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2012/20121116.htmlThe heads of the European Patent Office (EPO), the Japan Patent Office (JPO), and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), met in Kyoto, Japan this week for their 30th annual Trilateral Conference, signing a declaration pledging to further develop patent systems around the world through improved work-sharing. Fri, 16 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0100http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2012/20121112.htmlAll public documents of the Administrative Council will be made available after each session and published on the EPO's website. Mon, 12 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0100http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2012/20121109.htmlOpening the 22nd EPO Patent Information Conference, which took place in Hamburg on 6 to 8 November 2012, Mr Battistelli emphasised that patent information was a core element of the patent system.Fri, 09 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0100http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2012/20121108a.htmlAfter reporting to the Administrative Council last week on the completion of the four technical, fact-finding studies carried out by the Tegernsee Experts Group, the European Patent Office is making these studies available to the public on its website.Thu, 08 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0100http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2012/20121025.htmlIn a move to further improve multilingual access to information contained in patent documents, the EPO today made available a second set of European languages in its free automatic translation service Patent Translate. Thu, 25 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0200http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2012/20121022.htmlThe President of the European Patent Office (EPO), Benoît Battistelli, met with representatives of government, industry and academia in Bulgaria to discuss how to further strengthen the country's patent system, and enhance co-operation between the EPO and the Bulgarian Patent Office.Mon, 22 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0200http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2012/20121011.html"Finland, as a country with a growing, export-oriented industrial base and a strong culture of innovation, is an important member of the group of European countries which have chosen to put their patenting resources together and thereby help to bolster the competitive position of European industry in the globalised economy," said EPO's Vice-President for Legal and International Affairs, Raimund Lutz. Thu, 11 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0200