Find a professional representative
Searchable database of professional representatives
Looking for someone to represent you? The EPO keeps a searchable database of professional representatives, which you can consult below. The database is updated twice a month. The date of the last update is displayed above the search field.
You’re a professional representative? You can find out about having and managing an entry on the list of professional representatives before the EPO in the Law & practice section.
- More about professional representation before the EPO
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Professional representation before the EPO may be undertaken by professional representatives registered on the EPO's list of professional representatives (Article 134(1) EPC), by legal practitioners fulfilling the requirements of Article 134(8) EPC and registered with the EPO and by associations of professional representatives (Rule 152(11) EPC).
Natural and legal persons who do not have their residence or principal place of business in an EPC contracting state are obliged to be represented by a professional representative and act through them in all proceedings established by the EPC other than in filing a European patent application.
Natural and legal persons who have their residence or place of business in an EPC contracting state are not obliged to be represented in proceedings before the EPO and may perform procedural acts either themselves or, for legal persons, through their legal representative. They may also act through an employee (Article 133(3) EPC).
In both cases, any person can make fee payments.
Even if you are not obliged to appoint a professional representative, it may still be helpful to consult one.
- More about the searchable database
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The database contains only those professional representatives who provided the requisite data in line with the applicable data protection regulations. Details of all professional representatives are published in the EPO's Official Journal (last name, first name(s), nationality and full place of business/employment address)
You can search the database by country or by entering a term in the search field and clicking the magnifying glass icon on the right. You can also combine a country and term and search for both together.
To search for a representative by location, enter the name of the city in its local form. For example, type "München" or "münchen", but not "Munich".