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Searches, examinations, oppositions2015-02-04 16:33:072018-03-13
Total products – Searches, examinations, oppositions
The graph below shows the number of products delivered by the EPO examiners by search, examinations and oppositions. The
total number of products delivered by EPO examiners grew by 3.9% in 2018 to 430 418.
| Searches1
|
|
-5.8%
|
|
| Examinations2
|
|
18.8%
|
|
| Oppositions3
|
|
-0.3%
|
|
| Total |
|
3.9%
|
|
Source: EPO.
Status: 21.1.2019.
1 Searches completed by EPO examiners.
2 Examination communications dispatched by EPO examiners.
3 Opposition decisions communicated by EPO examiners. Oppositions must be filed at the
EPO within nine months of the grant of the respective European patent.
www.epo.org/applying/european/oppositions.
Searches completed
| European searches1
|
|
-10.9%
|
|
| International searches2 |
|
0.6%
|
|
Searches on behalf of
national offices |
|
0.4%
|
|
| Total |
|
-5.8%
|
|
Source: EPO.
Status: 21.1.2019.
1 European searches conducted under Article 92 of the European Patent Convention.
2 EPO acting as International Search Authority.
Examinations
| European examinations1 |
|
20.5%
|
|
| International preliminary examinations2
|
|
-11.0%
|
|
| Total |
|
18.8%
|
|
Source: EPO.
Status: 21.1.2019.
1 European examinations conducted under Article 94 of the European Patent Convention.
2 EPO acting as International Preliminary Examination Authority.
Oppositions
Anyone may oppose a European patent within a period of nine months from the publication of the grant. The opposition rate
(proportion of patents which are opposed among those for which this nine months delay expired during
the reported period) was 3.2%. In 2018 the EPO issued some 4 060 opposition decisions1, in 73% of the cases the patents were upheld either as granted or in an amended form.
Patents opposed
Decisions in opposition cases
Source: EPO.
Status: 21.1.2019.
1 Opposition decisions communicated by EPO examiners. Oppositions must be filed at the
EPO within nine months of the grant of the respective European patent.
www.epo.org/applying/european/oppositions.
Stock of the patent granting process 1
This graph shows the level of stock in months of work across the entire patent granting process. The EPO has managed to reduce the stock by 31% in the past 4 years, bringing it to just under 19 months.
Source: EPO.
Status: 21.1.2019.
1 The stock is defined by the number of product orders (i.e. search, examination, opposition) for which a final legal decision is still pending with the EPO. A product order is pending irrespective of whether it is waiting for completion of the statutory period, or for action by the examiner or the applicant.
