Skip to main content Skip to footer
HomeHome
 
  • Homepage
  • Searching for patents

    Patent knowledge

    Access our patent databases and search tools.

    Go to overview 

    • Overview
    • Technical information
      • Overview
      • Espacenet - patent search
      • European Publication Server
      • EP full-text search
    • Legal information
      • Overview
      • European Patent Register
      • European Patent Bulletin
      • European Case Law Identifier sitemap
      • Third-party observations
    • Business information
      • Overview
      • PATSTAT
      • IPscore
      • Technology insight reports
    • Data
      • Overview
      • Technology Intelligence Platform
      • Linked open EP data
      • Bulk data sets
      • Web services
      • Coverage, codes and statistics
    • Technology platforms
      • Overview
      • Plastics in transition
      • Water innovation
      • Space innovation
      • Technologies combatting cancer
      • Firefighting technologies
      • Clean energy technologies
      • Fighting coronavirus
    • Helpful resources
      • Overview
      • First time here?
      • Asian patent information
      • Patent information centres
      • Patent Translate
      • Patent Knowledge News
      • Business and statistics
      • Unitary Patent information in patent knowledge
    Image
    Plastics in Transition

    Technology insight report on plastic waste management

  • Applying for a patent

    Applying for a patent

    Practical information on filing and grant procedures.

    Go to overview 

    • Overview
    • European route
      • Overview
      • European Patent Guide
      • Oppositions
      • Oral proceedings
      • Appeals
      • Unitary Patent & Unified Patent Court
      • National validation
      • Request for extension/validation
    • International route (PCT)
      • Overview
      • Euro-PCT Guide – PCT procedure at the EPO
      • EPO decisions and notices
      • PCT provisions and resources
      • Extension/validation request
      • Reinforced partnership programme
      • Accelerating your PCT application
      • Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)
      • Training and events
    • National route
    • Find a professional representative
    • MyEPO services
      • Overview
      • Understand our services
      • Get access
      • File with us
      • Interact with us on your files
      • Online Filing & fee payment outages
    • Forms
      • Overview
      • Request for examination
    • Fees
      • Overview
      • European fees (EPC)
      • International fees (PCT)
      • Unitary Patent fees (UP)
      • Fee payment and refunds
      • Warning

    UP

    Find out how the Unitary Patent can enhance your IP strategy

  • Law & practice

    Law & practice

    European patent law, the Official Journal and other legal texts.

    Go to overview 

    • Overview
    • Legal texts
      • Overview
      • European Patent Convention
      • Official Journal
      • Guidelines
      • Extension / validation system
      • London Agreement
      • National law relating to the EPC
      • Unitary patent system
      • National measures relating to the Unitary Patent
    • Court practices
      • Overview
      • European Patent Judges' Symposium
    • User consultations
      • Overview
      • Ongoing consultations
      • Completed consultations
    • Substantive patent law harmonisation
      • Overview
      • The Tegernsee process
      • Group B+
    • Convergence of practice
    • Options for professional representatives
    Image
    Law and practice scales 720x237

    Keep up with key aspects of selected BoA decisions with our monthly "Abstracts of decisions”

  • News & events

    News & events

    Our latest news, podcasts and events, including the European Inventor Award.

    Go to overview 

     

    • Overview
    • News
    • Events
    • European Inventor Award
      • Overview
      • The meaning of tomorrow
      • About the award
      • Categories and prizes
      • Meet the finalists
      • Nominations
      • European Inventor Network
      • The 2024 event
    • Young Inventor Prize
      • Overview
      • About the prize
      • Nominations
      • The jury
      • The world, reimagined
    • Press centre
      • Overview
      • Patent Index and statistics
      • Search in press centre
      • Background information
      • Copyright
      • Press contacts
      • Call back form
      • Email alert service
    • Innovation and patenting in focus
      • Overview
      • Water-related technologies
      • CodeFest
      • Green tech in focus
      • Research institutes
      • Women inventors
      • Lifestyle
      • Space and satellites
      • The future of medicine
      • Materials science
      • Mobile communications
      • Biotechnology
      • Patent classification
      • Digital technologies
      • The future of manufacturing
      • Books by EPO experts
    • "Talk innovation" podcast

    Podcast

    From ideas to inventions: tune into our podcast for the latest in tech and IP

  • Learning

    Learning

    The European Patent Academy – the point of access to your learning

    Go to overview 

    • Overview
    • Learning activities and paths
      • Overview
      • Learning activities
      • Learning paths
    • EQE and EPAC
      • Overview
      • EQE - European qualifying examination
      • EPAC - European patent administration certification
      • CSP – Candidate Support Programme
    • Learning resources by area of interest
      • Overview
      • Patent granting
      • Technology transfer and dissemination
      • Patent enforcement and litigation
    • Learning resources by profile
      • Overview
      • Business and IP managers
      • EQE and EPAC Candidates
      • Judges, lawyers and prosecutors
      • National offices and IP authorities
      • Patent attorneys and paralegals
      • Universities, research centres and technology transfer centres (TTOs)
    Image
    Patent Academy catalogue

    Have a look at the extensive range of learning opportunities in the European Patent Academy training catalogue

  • About us

    About us

    Find out more about our work, values, history and vision

    Go to overview 

    • Overview
    • The EPO at a glance
    • 50 years of the EPC
      • Overview
      • Official celebrations
      • Member states’ video statements
      • 50 Leading Tech Voices
      • Athens Marathon
      • Kids’ collaborative art competition
    • Legal foundations and member states
      • Overview
      • Legal foundations
      • Member states of the European Patent Organisation
      • Extension states
      • Validation states
    • Administrative Council and subsidiary bodies
      • Overview
      • Communiqués
      • Calendar
      • Documents and publications
      • Administrative Council
    • Principles & strategy
      • Overview
      • Our mission, vision, values and corporate policy
      • Strategic Plan 2028
      • Towards a New Normal
    • Leadership & management
      • Overview
      • President António Campinos
      • Management Advisory Committee
    • Sustainability at the EPO
      • Overview
      • Environmental
      • Social
      • Governance and Financial sustainability
    • Services & activities
      • Overview
      • Our services & structure
      • Quality
      • Consulting our users
      • European and international co-operation
      • European Patent Academy
      • Chief Economist
      • Ombuds Office
      • Reporting wrongdoing
    • Observatory on Patents and Technology
      • Overview
      • Innovation actors
      • Policy and funding
      • Tools
      • About the Observatory
    • Procurement
      • Overview
      • Procurement forecast
      • Doing business with the EPO
      • Procurement procedures
      • Sustainable Procurement Policy
      • About eTendering and electronic signatures
      • Procurement portal
      • Invoicing
      • General conditions
      • Archived tenders
    • Transparency portal
      • Overview
      • General
      • Human
      • Environmental
      • Organisational
      • Social and relational
      • Economic
      • Governance
    • Statistics and trends
      • Overview
      • Statistics & Trends Centre
      • Patent Index 2024
      • EPO Data Hub
      • Clarification on data sources
    • History
      • Overview
      • 1970s
      • 1980s
      • 1990s
      • 2000s
      • 2010s
      • 2020s
    • Art collection
      • Overview
      • The collection
      • Let's talk about art
      • Artists
      • Media library
      • What's on
      • Publications
      • Contact
      • Culture Space A&T 5-10
      • "Long Night"
    Image
    Patent Index 2024 keyvisual showing brightly lit up data chip, tinted in purple, bright blue

    Track the latest tech trends with our Patent Index

 
en de fr
  • Language selection
  • English
  • Deutsch
  • Français
Main navigation
  • Homepage
    • Go back
    • New to patents
  • New to patents
    • Go back
    • Your business and patents
    • Why do we have patents?
    • What's your big idea?
    • Are you ready?
    • What to expect
    • How to apply for a patent
    • Is it patentable?
    • Are you first?
    • Patent quiz
    • Unitary patent video
  • Searching for patents
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • Technical information
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Espacenet - patent search
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • National patent office databases
        • Global Patent Index (GPI)
        • Release notes
      • European Publication Server
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Release notes
        • Cross-reference index for Euro-PCT applications
        • EP authority file
        • Help
      • EP full-text search
    • Legal information
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • European Patent Register
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Release notes archive
        • Register documentation
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Deep link data coverage
          • Federated Register
          • Register events
      • European Patent Bulletin
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Download Bulletin
        • EP Bulletin search
        • Help
      • European Case Law Identifier sitemap
      • Third-party observations
    • Business information
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • PATSTAT
      • IPscore
        • Go back
        • Release notes
      • Technology insight reports
    • Data
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Technology Intelligence Platform
      • Linked open EP data
      • Bulk data sets
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Manuals
        • Sequence listings
        • National full-text data
        • European Patent Register data
        • EPO worldwide bibliographic data (DOCDB)
        • EP full-text data
        • EPO worldwide legal event data (INPADOC)
        • EP bibliographic data (EBD)
        • Boards of Appeal decisions
      • Web services
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Open Patent Services (OPS)
        • European Publication Server web service
      • Coverage, codes and statistics
        • Go back
        • Weekly updates
        • Updated regularly
    • Technology platforms
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Plastics in transition
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Plastics waste recovery
        • Plastics waste recycling
        • Alternative plastics
      • Innovation in water technologies
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Clean water
        • Protection from water
      • Space innovation
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Cosmonautics
        • Space observation
      • Technologies combatting cancer
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Prevention and early detection
        • Diagnostics
        • Therapies
        • Wellbeing and aftercare
      • Firefighting technologies
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Detection and prevention of fires
        • Fire extinguishing
        • Protective equipment
        • Post-fire restoration
      • Clean energy technologies
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Renewable energy
        • Carbon-intensive industries
        • Energy storage and other enabling technologies
      • Fighting coronavirus
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Vaccines and therapeutics
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Vaccines
          • Overview of candidate therapies for COVID-19
          • Candidate antiviral and symptomatic therapeutics
          • Nucleic acids and antibodies to fight coronavirus
        • Diagnostics and analytics
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Protein and nucleic acid assays
          • Analytical protocols
        • Informatics
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Bioinformatics
          • Healthcare informatics
        • Technologies for the new normal
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Devices, materials and equipment
          • Procedures, actions and activities
          • Digital technologies
        • Inventors against coronavirus
    • Helpful resources
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • First time here?
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Basic definitions
        • Patent classification
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC)
        • Patent families
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • DOCDB simple patent family
          • INPADOC extended patent family
        • Legal event data
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • INPADOC classification scheme
      • Asian patent information
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • China (CN)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Facts and figures
          • Grant procedure
          • Numbering system
          • Useful terms
          • Searching in databases
        • Chinese Taipei (TW)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Grant procedure
          • Numbering system
          • Useful terms
          • Searching in databases
        • India (IN)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Facts and figures
          • Grant procedure
          • Numbering system
        • Japan (JP)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Facts and figures
          • Grant procedure
          • Numbering system
          • Useful terms
          • Searching in databases
        • Korea (KR)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Facts and figures
          • Grant procedure
          • Numbering system
          • Useful terms
          • Searching in databases
        • Russian Federation (RU)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Facts and figures
          • Numbering system
          • Searching in databases
        • Useful links
      • Patent information centres (PATLIB)
      • Patent Translate
      • Patent Knowledge News
      • Business and statistics
      • Unitary Patent information in patent knowledge
  • Applying for a patent
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • European route
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • European Patent Guide
      • Oppositions
      • Oral proceedings
        • Go back
        • Oral proceedings calendar
          • Go back
          • Calendar
          • Public access to appeal proceedings
          • Public access to opposition proceedings
          • Technical guidelines
      • Appeals
      • Unitary Patent & Unified Patent Court
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Unitary Patent
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Legal framework
          • Main features
          • Applying for a Unitary Patent
          • Cost of a Unitary Patent
          • Translation and compensation
          • Start date
          • Introductory brochures
        • Unified Patent Court
      • National validation
      • Extension/validation request
    • International route
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Euro-PCT Guide
      • Entry into the European phase
      • Decisions and notices
      • PCT provisions and resources
      • Extension/validation request
      • Reinforced partnership programme
      • Accelerating your PCT application
      • Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)
        • Go back
        • Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) programme outline
      • Training and events
    • National route
    • MyEPO services
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Understand our services
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Exchange data with us using an API
          • Go back
          • Release notes
      • Get access
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Release notes
      • File with us
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • What if our online filing services are down?
        • Release notes
      • Interact with us on your files
        • Go back
        • Release notes
      • Online Filing & fee payment outages
    • Fees
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • European fees (EPC)
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Decisions and notices
      • International fees (PCT)
        • Go back
        • Reduction in fees
        • Fees for international applications
        • Decisions and notices
        • Overview
      • Unitary Patent fees (UP)
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Decisions and notices
      • Fee payment and refunds
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Payment methods
        • Getting started
        • FAQs and other documentation
        • Technical information for batch payments
        • Decisions and notices
        • Release notes
      • Warning
    • Forms
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Request for examination
    • Find a professional representative
  • Law & practice
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • Legal texts
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • European Patent Convention
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Archive
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Documentation on the EPC revision 2000
            • Go back
            • Overview
            • Diplomatic Conference for the revision of the EPC
            • Travaux préparatoires
            • New text
            • Transitional provisions
            • Implementing regulations to the EPC 2000
            • Rules relating to Fees
            • Ratifications and accessions
          • Travaux Préparatoires EPC 1973
      • Official Journal
      • Guidelines
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • EPC Guidelines
        • PCT-EPO Guidelines
        • Unitary Patent Guidelines
        • Guidelines revision cycle
        • Consultation results
        • Summary of user responses
        • Archive
      • Extension / validation system
      • London Agreement
      • National law relating to the EPC
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Archive
      • Unitary Patent system
        • Go back
        • Travaux préparatoires to UP and UPC
      • National measures relating to the Unitary Patent 
    • Court practices
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • European Patent Judges' Symposium
    • User consultations
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Ongoing consultations
      • Completed consultations
    • Substantive patent law harmonisation
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • The Tegernsee process
      • Group B+
    • Convergence of practice
    • Options for professional representatives
  • News & events
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • News
    • Events
    • European Inventor Award
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • The meaning of tomorrow
      • About the award
      • Categories and prizes
      • Meet the inventors
      • Nominations
      • European Inventor Network
        • Go back
        • 2024 activities
        • 2025 activities
        • Rules and criteria
        • FAQ
      • The 2024 event
    • Young Inventors Prize
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • About the prize
      • Nominations
      • The jury
      • The world, reimagined
      • The 2025 event
    • Press centre
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Patent Index and statistics
      • Search in press centre
      • Background information
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • European Patent Office
        • Q&A on patents related to coronavirus
        • Q&A on plant patents
      • Copyright
      • Press contacts
      • Call back form
      • Email alert service
    • In focus
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Water-related technologies
      • CodeFest
        • Go back
        • CodeFest Spring 2025 on classifying patent data for sustainable development
        • Overview
        • CodeFest 2024 on generative AI
        • CodeFest 2023 on Green Plastics
      • Green tech in focus
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • About green tech
        • Renewable energies
        • Energy transition technologies
        • Building a greener future
      • Research institutes
      • Women inventors
      • Lifestyle
      • Space and satellites
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Patents and space technologies
      • Healthcare
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Medical technologies and cancer
        • Personalised medicine
      • Materials science
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Nanotechnology
      • Mobile communications
      • Biotechnology
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Red, white or green
        • The role of the EPO
        • What is patentable?
        • Biotech inventors
      • Classification
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Nanotechnology
        • Climate change mitigation technologies
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • External partners
          • Updates on Y02 and Y04S
      • Digital technologies
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • About ICT
        • Hardware and software
        • Artificial intelligence
        • Fourth Industrial Revolution
      • Additive manufacturing
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • About AM
        • AM innovation
      • Books by EPO experts
    • Podcast
  • Learning
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • Learning activities and paths
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Learning activities: types and formats
      • Learning paths
    • EQE and EPAC
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • EQE - European Qualifying Examination
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Compendium
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Paper F
          • Paper A
          • Paper B
          • Paper C
          • Paper D
          • Pre-examination
        • Candidates successful in the European qualifying examination
        • Archive
      • EPAC - European patent administration certification
      • CSP – Candidate Support Programme
    • Learning resources by area of interest
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Patent granting
      • Technology transfer and dissemination
      • Patent enforcement and litigation
    • Learning resources by profile
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Business and IP managers
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Innovation case studies
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • SME case studies
          • Technology transfer case studies
          • High-growth technology case studies
        • Inventor's handbook
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Introduction
          • Disclosure and confidentiality
          • Novelty and prior art
          • Competition and market potential
          • Assessing the risk ahead
          • Proving the invention
          • Protecting your idea
          • Building a team and seeking funding
          • Business planning
          • Finding and approaching companies
          • Dealing with companies
        • Best of search matters
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Tools and databases
          • EPO procedures and initiatives
          • Search strategies
          • Challenges and specific topics
        • Support for high-growth technology businesses
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Business decision-makers
          • IP professionals
          • Stakeholders of the Innovation Ecosystem
      • EQE and EPAC Candidates
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Paper F brain-teasers
        • Daily D questions
        • European qualifying examination - Guide for preparation
        • EPAC
      • Judges, lawyers and prosecutors
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Compulsory licensing in Europe
        • The jurisdiction of European courts in patent disputes
      • National offices and IP authorities
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Learning material for examiners of national officers
        • Learning material for formalities officers and paralegals
      • Patent attorneys and paralegals
      • Universities, research centres and TTOs
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Modular IP Education Framework (MIPEF)
        • Pan-European Seal Young Professionals Programme
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • For students
          • For universities
            • Go back
            • Overview
            • IP education resources
            • University memberships
          • Our young professionals
          • Professional development plan
        • Academic Research Programme
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Completed research projects
          • Current research projects
        • IP Teaching Kit
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Download modules
        • Intellectual property course design manual
        • PATLIB Knowledge Transfer to Africa
          • Go back
          • The PATLIB Knowledge Transfer to Africa initiative (KT2A)
          • KT2A core activities
          • Success story: Malawi University of Science and Technology and PATLIB Birmingham
  • About us
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • The EPO at a glance
    • 50 years of the EPC
      • Go back
      • Official celebrations
      • Overview
      • Member states’ video statements
        • Go back
        • Albania
        • Austria
        • Belgium
        • Bulgaria
        • Croatia
        • Cyprus
        • Czech Republic
        • Denmark
        • Estonia
        • Finland
        • France
        • Germany
        • Greece
        • Hungary
        • Iceland
        • Ireland
        • Italy
        • Latvia
        • Liechtenstein
        • Lithuania
        • Luxembourg
        • Malta
        • Monaco
        • Montenegro
        • Netherlands
        • North Macedonia
        • Norway
        • Poland
        • Portugal
        • Romania
        • San Marino
        • Serbia
        • Slovakia
        • Slovenia
        • Spain
        • Sweden
        • Switzerland
        • Türkiye
        • United Kingdom
      • 50 Leading Tech Voices
      • Athens Marathon
      • Kids’ collaborative art competition
    • Legal foundations and member states
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Legal foundations
      • Member states
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Member states by date of accession
      • Extension states
      • Validation states
    • Administrative Council and subsidiary bodies
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Communiqués
        • Go back
        • 2024
        • Overview
        • 2023
        • 2022
        • 2021
        • 2020
        • 2019
        • 2018
        • 2017
        • 2016
        • 2015
        • 2014
        • 2013
      • Calendar
      • Documents and publications
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Select Committee documents
      • Administrative Council
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Composition
        • Representatives
        • Rules of Procedure
        • Board of Auditors
        • Secretariat
        • Council bodies
    • Principles & strategy
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Mission, vision, values & corporate policy
      • Strategic Plan 2028
        • Go back
        • Driver 1: People
        • Driver 2: Technologies
        • Driver 3: High-quality, timely products and services
        • Driver 4: Partnerships
        • Driver 5: Financial sustainability
      • Towards a New Normal
      • Data protection & privacy notice
    • Leadership & management
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • About the President
      • Management Advisory Committee
    • Sustainability at the EPO
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Environmental
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Inspiring environmental inventions
      • Social
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Inspiring social inventions
      • Governance and Financial sustainability
    • Procurement
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Procurement forecast
      • Doing business with the EPO
      • Procurement procedures
      • Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) publications
      • Sustainable Procurement Policy
      • About eTendering
      • Invoicing
      • Procurement portal
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • e-Signing contracts
      • General conditions
      • Archived tenders
    • Services & activities
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Our services & structure
      • Quality
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Foundations
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • European Patent Convention
          • Guidelines for examination
          • Our staff
        • Enabling quality
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Prior art
          • Classification
          • Tools
          • Processes
        • Products & services
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Search
          • Examination
          • Opposition
          • Continuous improvement
        • Quality through networking
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • User engagement
          • Co-operation
          • User satisfaction survey
          • Stakeholder Quality Assurance Panels
        • Patent Quality Charter
        • Quality Action Plan
        • Quality dashboard
        • Statistics
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Search
          • Examination
          • Opposition
        • Integrated management at the EPO
      • Consulting our users
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Standing Advisory Committee before the EPO (SACEPO)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Objectives
          • SACEPO and its working parties
          • Meetings
          • Single Access Portal – SACEPO Area
        • Surveys
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Detailed methodology
          • Search services
          • Examination services, final actions and publication
          • Opposition services
          • Formalities services
          • Customer services
          • Filing services
          • Key Account Management (KAM)
          • Website
          • Archive
      • Our user service charter
      • European and international co-operation
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Co-operation with member states
          • Go back
          • Overview
        • Bilateral co-operation with non-member states
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Validation system
          • Reinforced Partnership programme
        • Multilateral international co-operation with IP offices and organisations
        • Co-operation with international organisations outside the IP system
      • European Patent Academy
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Partners
      • Chief Economist
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Economic studies
      • Ombuds Office
      • Reporting wrongdoing
    • Observatory on Patents and Technology
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Innovation against cancer
      • Innovation actors
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Startups and SMEs
      • Policy and funding
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Financing innovation programme
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Our studies on the financing of innovation
          • EPO initiatives for patent applicants
          • Financial support for innovators in Europe
        • Patents and standards
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Publications
          • Patent standards explorer
      • Tools
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Deep Tech Finder
      • About the Observatory
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Work plan
    • Transparency portal
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • General
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Annual Review 2023
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Foreword
          • Executive summary
          • 50 years of the EPC
          • Strategic key performance indicators
          • Goal 1: Engaged and empowered
          • Goal 2: Digital transformation
          • Goal 3: Master quality
          • Goal 4: Partner for positive impact
          • Goal 5: Secure sustainability
        • Annual Review 2022
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Foreword
          • Executive summary
          • Goal 1: Engaged and empowered
          • Goal 2: Digital transformation
          • Goal 3: Master quality
          • Goal 4: Partner for positive impact
          • Goal 5: Secure sustainability
      • Human
      • Environmental
      • Organisational
      • Social and relational
      • Economic
      • Governance
    • Statistics and trends
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Statistics & Trends Centre
      • Patent Index 2024
        • Go back
        • Insight into computer technology and AI
        • Insight into clean energy technologies
        • Statistics and indicators
          • Go back
          • European patent applications
            • Go back
            • Key trend
            • Origin
            • Top 10 technical fields
              • Go back
              • Computer technology
              • Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy
              • Digital communication
              • Medical technology
              • Transport
              • Measurement
              • Biotechnology
              • Pharmaceuticals
              • Other special machines
              • Organic fine chemistry
            • All technical fields
          • Applicants
            • Go back
            • Top 50
            • Categories
            • Women inventors
          • Granted patents
            • Go back
            • Key trend
            • Origin
            • Designations
      • Data to download
      • EPO Data Hub
      • Clarification on data sources
    • History
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • 1970s
      • 1980s
      • 1990s
      • 2000s
      • 2010s
      • 2020s
    • Art collection
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • The collection
      • Let's talk about art
      • Artists
      • Media library
      • What's on
      • Publications
      • Contact
      • Culture Space A&T 5-10
        • Go back
        • Catalyst lab & Deep vision
          • Go back
          • Irene Sauter (DE)
          • AVPD (DK)
          • Jan Robert Leegte (NL)
          • Jānis Dzirnieks (LV) #1
          • Jānis Dzirnieks (LV) #2
          • Péter Szalay (HU)
          • Thomas Feuerstein (AT)
          • Tom Burr (US)
          • Wolfgang Tillmans (DE)
          • TerraPort
          • Unfinished Sculpture - Captives #1
          • Deep vision – immersive exhibition
          • Previous exhibitions
        • The European Patent Journey
        • Sustaining life. Art in the climate emergency
        • Next generation statements
        • Open storage
        • Cosmic bar
      • "Long Night"
  • Boards of Appeal
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • Decisions of the Boards of Appeal
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Recent decisions
      • Selected decisions
    • Information from the Boards of Appeal
    • Procedure
    • Oral proceedings
    • About the Boards of Appeal
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • President of the Boards of Appeal
      • Enlarged Board of Appeal
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Pending referrals (Art. 112 EPC)
        • Decisions sorted by number (Art. 112 EPC)
        • Pending petitions for review (Art. 112a EPC)
        • Decisions on petitions for review (Art. 112a EPC)
      • Technical Boards of Appeal
      • Legal Board of Appeal
      • Disciplinary Board of Appeal
      • Presidium
        • Go back
        • Overview
    • Code of Conduct
    • Business distribution scheme
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Technical boards of appeal by IPC in 2025
      • Archive
    • Annual list of cases
    • Communications
    • Annual reports
      • Go back
      • Overview
    • Publications
      • Go back
      • Abstracts of decisions
    • Case Law of the Boards of Appeal
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Archive
  • Service & support
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • Website updates
    • Availability of online services
      • Go back
      • Overview
    • FAQ
      • Go back
      • Overview
    • Publications
    • Ordering
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Patent Knowledge Products and Services
      • Terms and conditions
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Patent information products
        • Bulk data sets
        • Open Patent Services (OPS)
        • Fair use charter
    • Procedural communications
    • Useful links
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Patent offices of member states
      • Other patent offices
      • Directories of patent attorneys
      • Patent databases, registers and gazettes
      • Disclaimer
    • Contact us
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Filing options
      • Locations
    • Subscription centre
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Subscribe
      • Change preferences
      • Unsubscribe
    • Official holidays
    • Glossary
    • RSS feeds
Board of Appeals
Decisions

Recent decisions

Overview
  • 2025 decisions
  • 2024 decisions
  • 2023 decisions
  1. Home
  2. T 1422/19 (Content item visibility/GOOGLE) 19-05-2021
Facebook X Linkedin Email

T 1422/19 (Content item visibility/GOOGLE) 19-05-2021

European Case Law Identifier
ECLI:EP:BA:2021:T142219.20210519
Date of decision
19 May 2021
Case number
T 1422/19
Petition for review of
-
Application number
14768301.5
IPC class
G06F 17/00
G06F 17/30
Language of proceedings
EN
Distribution
NO DISTRIBUTION (D)

Download and more information:

Decision in EN 359.03 KB
Documentation of the appeal procedure can be found in the European Patent Register
Bibliographic information is available in:
EN
Versions
Unpublished
Application title

Estimating visibility of content items

Applicant name
Google LLC
Opponent name
-
Board
3.5.07
Headnote
-
Relevant legal provisions
European Patent Convention Art 56
European Patent Convention Art 84
Keywords

Claims - clarity (yes)

Inventive step - (yes)

Catchword
-
Cited decisions
G 0001/19
T 0258/03
Citing decisions
T 3226/19

I. The appellant (applicant) appealed against the decision of the examining division refusing European patent application No. 14768301.5, published as international application WO 2014/151292.

II. The contested decision cited the following documents:

D1:|WO 2011/072048 A2, 16 June 2011; |

D2:|US 2011/0196735 A1, 11 August 2011; |

D3:|US 2012/0079366 A1, 29 March 2012; |

D4:|US 2011/0029393 A1, 3 February 2011; |

D5:|"Window outerWidth and outerHeight Properties", 6 March 2013, retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20130306132235/https://www.w3schools.com/jsref/prop_win_outerheight.asp.|

The examining division decided that the subject-matter of independent claims 1, 10 and 12 of the sole request lacked inventive step in view of document D1.

III. In its statement of grounds of appeal, the appellant maintained the claims considered in the decision under appeal as its sole main request.

IV. In a communication accompanying the summons to oral proceedings, the board raised objections under Articles 84 and 123(2) EPC and expressed the preliminary view that the subject-matter of claim 1 lacked inventive step in view of a combination of documents D1 and D5.

V. With a letter dated 8 January 2021, the appellant filed a first auxiliary request.

VI. During the oral proceedings, which were held on 19 May 2021, the appellant replaced its requests with a sole main request. At the end of the oral proceedings, the Chair announced the board's decision.

VII. The appellant requested that the decision under appeal be set aside and that a patent be granted on the basis of claims 1 to 10 of the sole main request filed in the oral proceedings.

VIII. Claim 1 of the sole main request reads as follows:

"A computer-implemented method (400) for determining content visibility when a content item is included in a cross-domain iframe (308), comprising:

determining (402) a first estimate of a size of a webpage viewing area (206) of a browser window (202) associated with a browser including (i) reading, from inside the iframe (308), an outer bound for size of the browser window (202), (ii) performing a statistical analysis to determine an average size of one or more browser elements (204, 208a, 208b) including determining a browser header (204) size based on historical measurements that are gathered as statistical data, and (iii) subtracting from the size of the browser window (202) the average size of the one or more browser elements (204, 208a, 208b);

determining (404) a second estimate for a size of the content item for display in the webpage viewing area (206), including reading iframe inside measurements for the iframe (308) from the browser;

determining (406) content item visibility including determining of a location of the content item relative to the webpage viewing area (206) by reading a location of the browser window (202) and, from inside the iframe (308), a location of the iframe (308) in screen coordinates and calculating how much of the content item is visible by determining an area of overlap of two rectangles, the first rectangle defined by the location of the browser window (202) and the estimate of the webpage viewing area (206), and the second rectangle defined by the location of the iframe (308) and the size of the content item; and

reporting (408) information about the visibility of the content item to a content sponsor."

Claims 2 to 4 are dependent on claim 1.

Claim 5 reads as follows:

"The method of claim 4, wherein the browser is a Firefox browser."

Claims 6 and 7 are dependent on claim 1.

Claim 8 reads as follows:

"A computer program product embodied in a tangible medium including instructions, that when executed, cause one or more processors to:

determine (402) a first estimate of a size of a webpage viewing area (206) of a browser window (202) associated with a browser including (i) reading, from inside the iframe (308), an outer bound for size of the browser window (202), (ii) performing a statistical analysis to determine an average size of one or more browser elements (204, 208a, 208b) including determining a browser header (204) size based on historical measurements that are gathered as statistical data, and (iii) subtracting from the size of the browser window (202) the average size of the one or more browser elements (204, 208a, 208b);

determine (404) a second estimate for a size of the content item for display in the webpage viewing area (206), including reading iframe inside measurements for the iframe (308) from the browser;

determine (406) content item visibility including determining of a location of the content item relative to the webpage viewing area (206) by reading a location of the browser window (202) and, from inside the iframe (308), a location of the iframe (308) in screen coordinates and calculating how much of the content item is visible by determining an area of overlap of two rectangles, the first rectangle defined by the location of the browser window (202) and the estimate of the webpage viewing area (206), and the second rectangle defined by the location of the iframe (308) and the size of the content item; and

report (408) information about the visibility of the content item to a content sponsor."

Claim 9 is dependent on claim 8.

Claim 10 reads as follows:

"A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more memory elements including instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to:

determine (402) a first estimate of a size of a webpage viewing area (206) of a browser window (202) associated with a browser including (i) reading, from inside the iframe (308), an outer bound for size of the browser window (202), (ii) performing a statistical analysis to determine an average size of one or more browser elements (204, 208a, 208b) including determining a browser header (204) size based on historical measurements that are gathered as statistical data, and (iii) subtracting from the size of the browser window (202) the average size of the one or more browser elements (204, 208a, 208b);

determine (404) a second estimate for a size of the content item for display in the webpage viewing area (206), including reading iframe inside measurements for the iframe (308) from the browser;

determine (406) content item visibility including determining of a location of the content item relative to the webpage viewing area (206) by reading a location of the browser window (202) and, from inside the iframe (308), a location of the iframe (308) in screen coordinates and calculating how much of the content item is visible by determining an area of overlap of two rectangles, the first rectangle defined by the location of the browser window (202) and the estimate of the webpage viewing area (206), and the second rectangle defined by the location of the iframe (308) and the size of the content item; and

report (408) information about the visibility of the content item to a content sponsor."

IX. The remaining application documents are:

- description:

- pages 1, 1a, 2 and 3 as filed with the letter of 30 May 2017;

- pages 4 to 18 as published;

- drawing sheets 1/4 to 4/4 as published.

1. The application

1.1 The application relates to determining "visibility of content" presented in a web browser (paragraph [0004] of the published application). Information on whether embedded content items, such as advertisements, are visible to the user is useful in the online advertising business.

1.2 According to paragraphs [0019] and [0020], certain existing techniques for determining/measuring the visibility of a content item do not work ("can be difficult") when the code that renders the content item runs from within a frame or iframe whose domain is distinct from the domain of the web page embedding the content item. In particular, browser security constraints may prevent access to information such as the size of the browser's viewport, the size of the content item, and the content's item location relative to the browser's viewport.

1.3 The application proposes a method that allows code to determine the visibility of a content item from within the content item's cross-domain iframe.

1.3.1 The visibility of the content item is determined by calculating the overlap of the rectangle corresponding to the "webpage viewing area" and the rectangle corresponding to the content item.

1.3.2 The rectangle corresponding to the web page viewing area is estimated by reading the size and location of the browser window from inside the iframe, i.e. by code included in the iframe, and correcting for browser user interface elements which are part of the browser window but not part of the web page viewing area (paragraphs [0023], [0024], [0043] and [0044]). The sizes of the browser user interface elements are estimated on the basis of statistical data obtained from historical measurements (paragraphs [0024] and [0025]).

1.3.3 The rectangle corresponding to the content item is determined by reading the location and size of the content item from inside the iframe. The position can be determined by means of browser-specific APIs (see paragraphs [0026], [0054] and [0055]) or by means of mouse events (as explained in paragraph [0050]). The size can be approximated as the size of the "inside portion" of the iframe (paragraphs [0022], [0054] and [0055]).

2. Added subject-matter - Article 123(2) EPC

2.1 Claim 1 is based on a combination of originally filed claims 1, 2, 6 and 10 with a number of further amendments based on the description as discussed below.

2.2 The term "viewport" has been replaced with "browser window". The application as filed uses these terms synonymously, as can been seen from paragraph [0026]: "if the browser's location is (200, 500) and the frame's location is (250, 510) in screen coordinates, then a determination can be made that the content item is located at (50, 10) in viewport coordinates".

2.3 The term "chrome elements" has been replaced with "browser elements". This is supported by paragraph [0023], which mentions scroll bars, universal resource locator bars and bookmark bars as examples of browser "chrome" elements.

2.4 The outer bound for the size of the browser window and the location of the iframe in screen coordinates are read "from inside the iframe" (paragraph [0011], second sentence).

2.5 Performing the statistical analysis includes "determining a browser header size based on historical measurements that are gathered as statistical data" (paragraph [0024], third sentence).

2.6 The "reporting visibility" step has been replaced with "reporting information about the visibility of the content item to a content sponsor" (paragraph [0059]).

2.7 Hence, the subject-matter of claim 1 and corresponding independent claims 8 and 10 has a basis in the application as filed.

2.8 Dependent claim 2 combines original dependent claims 4 and 5. Dependent claims 3 to 7 and 9 correspond to original claims 7, 8, 9, 11, 13 and 17, respectively.

2.9 The amended application therefore complies with Article 123(2) EPC.

3. Clarity - Article 84 EPC

3.1 The clarity objections raised by the board in its communication no longer apply to the current set of claims. In particular, the replacement of "viewport" with "browser window" has overcome the board's clarity objection in respect of the feature "a webpage viewing area of a viewport associated with a browser".

3.2 In the European search opinion, the search examiner objected to the feature "wherein the browser is a Firefox browser" of then claim 7, noting that "Mozilla Firefox" was a registered trademark and therefore had to be indicated as "Firefox®".

No provision of the EPC or of national or international law mandates that trademarks be marked as such. In some jurisdictions, trademark owners can use the ® symbol to give notice to the public that a trademark has been registered. However, the appellant is not the owner of the Firefox trademark.

Accordingly, the trademark symbol has been removed from present claim 5.

3.3 The board is aware that Part F, Chapter IV, 4.8 of the Guidelines for Examination in the EPO (March 2021) warns against the use of trademarks and similar expressions in claims as it is not normally guaranteed that the product or feature referred to is not modified while maintaining its name during the term of the patent.

Although the term "Firefox browser" in dependent claim 5 does not refer to a fixed product but to a family of web browsers which grows over time, this does not lead to a lack of clarity in the present case. The term "(web) browser", while covering an ever growing number of different browser implementations, is a standard term in the art and refers to a relatively well-defined set of technical features. The term "Firefox browser" merely limits the scope of the claim to embodiments in which the web browser is one that was released under the "Firefox" brand - a criterion that is easy to check. The question whether such a limitation implies additional technical features relevant to achieving a specific technical effect over the whole scope of the claim can be examined under inventive step if necessary. But since claim 5 is a dependent claim, this question need not be answered.

3.4 Hence, the application complies with the requirements of Article 84 EPC.

4. Inventive step

4.1 Document D1 relates to determining whether a predefined percentage of an advertisement is within the browser's viewport (see abstract and paragraphs [0003] and [0004]). It is undisputed that document D1 represents the closest prior art for the subject-matter of claim 1.

It is clear from Figure 2 and paragraph [0012] that document D1 uses the term "viewport" in its standard meaning of the visible area within a browser window that displays (a portion of) the web page. This corresponds to the "webpage viewing area" of claim 1.

Document D1 discloses, in paragraphs [0012], [0013], [0016] and Figures 2 and 4, a method of determining, by a program embedded in an advertisement unit of a web page, whether the advertisement is visible by determining

- the size and the location on the screen of the browser's viewport (Figure 2; paragraph [0012], "upper left corner viewport x, y display dimensions 28"; paragraph [0016], "dimensions and the x,y coordinates of the viewport") and

- the size and the location of the advertisement (paragraph [0012], "upper left corner x, y coordinates 34 and a total area of the Ad"; paragraph [0016], "x, y coordinates and the dimensions of the Ad unit")

and then calculating how much of the advertisement is visible, which is equivalent to determining the area of overlap between the rectangle corresponding to the viewport and the rectangle corresponding to the advertisement (see Figure 2).

The advertisement may be enclosed in an iframe (paragraph [0022]). The board agrees with the examining division that, since the advertisement is retrieved from a separate ad server (see paragraph [0011]), the iframe is a cross-domain iframe. However, document D1 contains no discussion on cross-domain security restrictions and the measures used to overcome them.

The determined visibility is reported to interested parties, including "ad placement clients", i.e. content sponsors (paragraphs [0012] and [0019]).

4.2 Document D1 does not disclose that the size of the viewport/web page viewing area is determined by reading the size of the browser window and subtracting from the size of the browser window the average size of one or more browser elements as determined by a statistical analysis based on historical measurements.

This distinguishing feature addresses the problem of estimating the size of the browser's viewport from within a cross-domain iframe. Due to security constraints, the size of the viewport cannot be accessed directly from within a cross-domain iframe (see paragraph [0020] of the published application).

4.3 In its decision, the examining division argued that, although the determination of the estimated size of the viewport was performed with technical means, it corresponded to a technical implementation of a non-technical requirement, which was the rule used to compute the estimated size. This rule was non-technical because it was based on a business requirement and, since the determined output size was an estimated value, it circumvented the technical problem of actually measuring the viewing area rather than addressing it.

4.4 It is true that the method of claim 1 does not include a technical use of the calculated/estimated content visibility. In fact, the claim specifies that the information about the visibility of the content item is reported to a content sponsor. However, the method does not merely calculate this information from numerical input data but measures "raw" information about a running web browser and processes this information to produce an estimate of a technically meaningful parameter, namely the extent to which a content item displayed within a web page is visible to the user, and on the basis of technical considerations relating to what is possible with an unmodified browser that enforces standard security constraints. Such an indirect measurement is normally of a technical nature (see decision G 1/19, not yet published in the OJ EPO, point 99).

4.5 As for the examining division's argument that the claim "circumvents" rather than addresses the technical problem of actually measuring the viewing area, the board notes that finding a way to circumvent a technical problem may well form the basis for a patentable invention.

The examining division's argument appears to be based on decision T 258/03, OJ EPO 2004, 575, Reasons 5.7, where the deciding board argued that "[m]ethod steps consisting of modifications to a business scheme and aimed at circumventing a technical problem rather than solving it by technical means cannot contribute to the technical character of the subject-matter claimed".

However, no business or other non-technical scheme is modified in the present case.

4.6 In its communication, the board suggested that in view of document D5, which disclosed that the width and the height of the browser window including browser elements such as toolbars and scroll bars could be obtained by means of the "window.outerWidth" and "window.outerHeight" properties, it would have been obvious to estimate the size of the browser's viewport in terms of width and height by determining the width and height of the browser window by means of these properties and correcting for browser elements. Since the sizes of browsers elements varied from browser to browser, they would have to be estimated, for example on the basis of statistical data.

4.7 However, on reconsideration the board is not convinced that, faced with the problem of obtaining the approximate size of the browser's viewport, the skilled person would, without any hint, decide to obtain instead the size of the browser window and then correct for browser elements.

Since such a hint is not present in document D5 or in any of the other prior-art documents on file, the board considers that the subject-matter of claim 1 is not rendered obvious by the cited prior art.

4.8 Hence, the subject-matter of claim 1 and of the corresponding independent claims 10 and 12 involves an inventive step over the cited prior art.

5. Conclusion

Since, moreover, the description has been adapted, the board is satisfied that the sole substantive request complies with the requirements of the EPC and that the appeal is therefore allowable.

Order

For these reasons it is decided that:

1. The decision under appeal is set aside.

2. The case is remitted to the department of first instance with the order to grant a patent on the basis of the following documents:

- claims 1 to 10 as filed in the oral proceedings before the board;

- description:

- pages 1, 1a, 2 and 3 as filed with the letter of 30 May 2017;

- pages 4 to 18 as published;

- drawing sheets 1/4 to 4/4 as published.

Footer - Service & support
  • Service & support
    • Website updates
    • Availability of online services
    • FAQ
    • Publications
    • Procedural communications
    • Contact us
    • Subscription centre
    • Official holidays
    • Glossary
Footer - More links
  • Jobs & careers
  • Press centre
  • Single Access Portal
  • Procurement
  • Boards of Appeal
Facebook
European Patent Office
EPO Jobs
Instagram
EuropeanPatentOffice
Linkedin
European Patent Office
EPO Jobs
EPO Procurement
X (formerly Twitter)
EPOorg
EPOjobs
Youtube
TheEPO
Footer
  • Legal notice
  • Terms of use
  • Data protection and privacy
  • Accessibility