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
      • About the award
      • Categories and prizes
      • Meet the finalists
      • Nominations
      • European Inventor Network
      • The 2024 event
    • Young Inventors Prize
      • Overview
      • About the prize
      • Nominations
      • The jury
      • The world, reimagined
      • The 2025 event
    • 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
      • Technologies
      • 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
      • 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
          • Core activities
          • Stories and insights
  • 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
      • Technologies
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Innovation against cancer
        • Assistive robotics
        • Space technologies
      • Innovation actors
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Startups and SMEs
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Publications
        • Research universities and public research organisations
      • 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 2024
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Executive summary
          • Driver 1 – People
          • Driver 2 – Technologies
          • Driver 3 – High-quality, timely products and services
          • Driver 4 – Partnerships
          • Driver 5 – Financial Sustainability
        • 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 0334/92 (Benzodioxane derivatives/EISAI) 23-03-1994
Facebook X Linkedin Email

T 0334/92 (Benzodioxane derivatives/EISAI) 23-03-1994

European Case Law Identifier
ECLI:EP:BA:1994:T033492.19940323
Date of decision
23 March 1994
Case number
T 0334/92
Petition for review of
-
Application number
86110080.8
IPC class
C07D 319/20
Language of proceedings
EN
Distribution
DISTRIBUTED TO BOARD CHAIRMEN AND MEMBERS (B)

Download and more information:

Decision in EN 632.14 KB
Documentation of the appeal procedure can be found in the European Patent Register
Bibliographic information is available in:
EN
Versions
Unpublished
Application title

1,4-benzodioxane derivatives, process for preparing them, pharmacological composition and use

Applicant name
Eisai Co., Ltd.
Opponent name
-
Board
3.3.01
Headnote
-
Relevant legal provisions
European Patent Convention Art 56 1973
Keywords
Inventive step (yes) - closest prior art - determination of the technical problem
Catchword

I. The question of inventive step can only be objectively answered if an unrealistic approach is avoided. This implies that it is not appropriate to formulate an artificial and unrealistic technical problem which a skilled person, in practice, would not have considered (following T 495/91 and T 741/91). Therefore, a document that has been disregarded by those skilled in the art for more than 20 years and which has never been used during this period as a basis for further development, and which, moreover, is completely silent about the extent of the promised activity, which document, finally, does not even mention, let alone discuss, the relevant state of the art, so that the person skilled in the art is not in the position to recognise any technical advantage of these compounds in respect of that state of the art, does not represent the closest state of the art and cannot, therefore, be used for defining a realistic technical problem (No. 4.2 of the Reasons).

II. It is not permissible to ignore, for the purpose of defining the technical problem, technical evidence establishing technically useful properties of the claimed compounds, including the obtained level of activity (see No. 4.6 of the Reasons).

Cited decisions
T 0164/83
T 0495/91
T 0741/91
Citing decisions
T 0731/91
T 0964/92
T 1000/92
T 1408/04

I. This appeal was filed on 23 October 1991 against the decision of the Examining Division of 23 August 1991 refusing European patent application No. 86 110 080.8, filed on 22 July 1986, and published under No. 0 210 581. The appropriate fee was paid on the same date.

II. The decision under appeal was based on two sets of claims, the first set comprising eight claims for the Contracting States other than AT and the second four claims for AT. Claim 1 of the first set read as follows:

"A 1,4-benzodioxane derivative represented by the following general formula:

(FORMULA)

wherein p stands for an integer of 1 or 2; Y is a group represented by -OR in which R denotes a hydrogen atom, a lower alkyl, a lower alkoxycarbonyl, an alkanoyl, nicotinoyl or a group represented by the formula

(FORMULA)

in which m is 1 or 2; or a pharmacologically acceptable salt thereof."

The ground of refusal was that the application did not meet the requirement of Article 56 EPC, since the subject-matter of the above claim was obvious in the light of

(1) GB-A-1 027 967,

disclosing compounds of the general formula

(FORMULA)

wherein Y is inter alia a methylene group and R is hydrogen, chlorine, bromine or trifluoromethyl, which compounds have vasodilator and hypotensive activity and were useful for the treatment of angina pectoris. The Examining Division considered that document (1) represented the closest state of the art and that the technical problem underlying the present European patent application could not be seen in providing compounds of a higher activity than the activities of commercially available medicaments for the treatment of angina pectoris, such as nitroglycerine (NG), isosorbide dinitrate (ISDN), or Nicorandil (N-2-nitratoethyl- nicotinamide), nor, in the absence of any evidence based on a direct comparison, in providing compounds having a higher activity than the activities of the compounds disclosed in document (1). Thus the relevant technical problem was held to be merely to provide compounds of a chemical structure and a therapeutical activity similar to those of the compounds disclosed in document (1). The Examining Division found that a person skilled in the art looking for such compounds, who was aware of the prior art acknowledged in the description, could reasonably have expected that all compounds having a nitratoalkyl group, including those proposed in the present European patent application, would have such a similar activity.

III. A Statement of Grounds of Appeal was received on 20. December 1991. On 4 March 1994, after a telephone conversation with the Rapporteur of the Board of Appeal, concerning some possible objections against the above sets of claims, the Appellant (the Applicant) filed two fresh sets of claims, comprising eight claims for the Contracting States except AT and four claims for AT. In Claim 1 of the first set the expression "alkanoyl" in Claim 1 underlying the decision under appeal was replaced by "alkanoyl group derived from aliphatic monocarboxylic acids having 1 to 6 carbon atoms".

The Appellant submitted that the approach of the Examining Division to assess inventive step, namely a direct comparison of the therapeutic activities of the claimed compounds and the prior art compounds having the greatest structural similarity, was not the only one possible. Consequently, even if on this approach an inventive step could not be established, this would not mean that the claimed compounds were obvious, since the presence of an inventive step could follow from other considerations. Thus he submitted that the compounds he had used for comparison were the ones that were and still are commonly used in therapy, and that it would be more reasonable and logical to compare his newly developed compounds with those compounds of the state of the art, rather than with compounds which, although having greater structural similarity, were, in the absence of any quantitative assessment of their activity, of unknown therapeutic significance and were not readily comparable with the new compounds.

In addition, he submitted that the claimed compounds showed important structural differences when compared with those disclosed in document (1), and that no person skilled in the art would thus have been able to predict the improved pharmacological properties which were shown in the present patent application.

IV. The Appellant requested that the decision under appeal be set aside and a patent be granted on the basis of the sets of claims filed on 4 March 1994.

1. The appeal is admissible.

2. The Board is satisfied that no objection under Article 123(2) arises against the subject-matter of these claims (see Claims 1 to 5, 7, 13 to 18 as filed together with the description as filed page 2, lines 13 to 19).

3. The claimed compounds are novel with respect to the content of document (1) (see point II above).

4. Inventive Step

4.1. On page 3, lines 8 to 14 of the description of the present patent application, it is stated that two nitrate esters were widely used in the therapeutic treatment of angina pectoris, namely NG, which had been used for more than 100 years and was still considered to be one of the most effective compounds, and the more recently developed ISDN. On page 4, lines 1 to 9 it is further stated that the present patent application aimed at the development of structurally different nitro- containing compounds having activities stronger than those of these conventional medicines. The description as filed further contained a number of pharmacological test results (pages 10 to 17) demonstrating that one of the claimed compounds, namely 8-hydroxy-2-nitratomethyl- 7-nitro-1,4-benzodioxane, has indeed a higher activity and at the same time a lower acute toxicity than NG and ISDN.

However, the Examining Division did not accept these test results as a basis for assessing the inventive step in the present case. Instead, they relied upon document (1), which disclosed chemical compounds which were structurally more closely related to the claimed ones and were also said to have activity against angina pectoris. They stated that the presence of an inventive step could only be acknowledged if an increased activity of the claimed compounds compared with those described in document (1) could be demonstrated. In the absence of any evidence on this point they concluded that the claimed compounds were no more than obvious modifications of the latter compounds.

4.2. The Board cannot accept the validity of this approach. The question of inventive step can only be objectively answered if an artificial, mechanistic and therefore unrealistic approach is avoided. This implies that it is not appropriate to formulate an artificial and unrealistic technical problem which a skilled person, in practice, would not have considered (see also T 495/91 of 20 July 1993, point 4.2 of the reasons and T 741/91 of 22 September 1993, point 3.3 of the reasons). It is thus necessary, after having determined the relevant state of the art in respect of chemical structure and technically useful properties, to consider carefully whether or not in the specific circumstances of the case, taking into account all available information about the technical context of the claimed invention, a person skilled in the art would in fact have had any, let alone any good reason to select this piece of prior art as the basis for further development.

4.3. In the present case, the Appellant has strongly emphasised that document (1), which was published in 1964, has never been and would never have been considered, let alone seriously considered, by those skilled in the art. This submission is in agreement with the fact that a number of textbooks concerning pharmaceutical chemistry, which have been consulted by the Board, inter alia "Burgers Medicinal Chemistry", fourth edition, Part III (1981), pages 94 to 96, and "E. Mutschler, Arzneimittelwirkungen" (1991), pages 417 to 420, do not even mention these compounds among the useful medicaments for the treatment of angina pectoris. Thus the Board accepts the Appellant's assertion that document (1) was disregarded by those skilled in the art for more than 20 years, and, in particular, that no attempt has been made during this long period to take these compounds as a basis for further development. It is also significant that this document is completely silent about the extent of the indicated therapeutic activity. Nor does it mention, let alone discuss, the state of the art relevant at the time, which comprised NG as a medicament of recognised value, so that the person skilled in the art would not have been in the position to recognise any technical advantage of these compounds in respect of the relevant state of the art at the time.

Thus, although it is clear that the Examining Division has correctly identified document (1) as the one describing compounds of the same activity (see page 2, lines 13 to 16) and having the greatest structural similarity to the claimed compounds, the Board nevertheless holds that it is not appropriate to consider document (1) as the closest state of the art and, therefore, as a realistic starting point for the determination of the relevant technical problem, because in the particular circumstances of this case it would be wholly unrealistic to assume that a person skilled in the art would have set out to modify an old class of chemical compounds whose contribution to the technical field was totally unknown, with a view to obtaining new compounds having higher activity than the standard compounds accepted and used, namely NG and ISDN. Thus in the present case an objective assessment of all relevant circumstances leads to the conclusion that document (1), in spite of its closest structural similarity and in spite of its identical type of activity to that of the claimed ones cannot be regarded as the appropriate starting point for the assessment of inventive step. In contrast to the Appellant's submission, however, the Board observes that the absence of quantitative test results alone would not have been sufficient to disqualify document (1) in this respect.

Moreover, the compounds of the present amended Claim 1 are esters of nitric acid and glycerol, and are therefore also structurally related to NG.

For these reasons the Board holds that in the present case the closest state of the art for the assessment of inventive step is represented by NG and ISDN, the standard medicaments for treating angina pectoris at the priority date of the present patent application, and that the technical problem underlying this patent application should be seen in providing further chemical compounds which have an improved activity in the treatment of angina pectoris when compared with these known compounds, and are at the same time less toxic.

4.4. It can be seen from Pharmacological Experiments 1 and 2 (pages 10 to 14 of the description as filed) as well as from the toxicity data on page 16 of the description that one of the claimed compounds, namely 8-hydroxy-2- nitratomethyl-7-nitro-1,4-benzodioxane, solves the above-defined technical problem. The Board is satisfied that the above compound is representative of the relatively small group of compounds now claimed and that, therefore, all compounds encompassed by this group solve this problem to about the same extent.

4.5. As already mentioned, document (1) is silent on the extent of the promised activity and does not therefore provide any incentive to modify the compounds it describes. Nor does it suggest the direction of modification, chosen in the present application, in order to obtain compounds which have a superior activity and a lower toxicity than NG or ISDN and are therefore suitable for solving the present technical problem. The other prior art compounds mentioned in the description and in the cited textbooks are not derived from glycerol or 1,4-benzodioxane. The knowledge of their structure and activity therefore does not suggest the structural modifications leading to the compounds now claimed either. The presence of an inventive step can therefore be acknowledged.

4.6. Nor would the result be any different if one would, incorrectly, consider document (1) as the relevant closest state of the art. Even if one would further accept that some activity against angina pectoris may be expected to exist in all compounds having a nitrate ester group in the molecule, as stated by the Examining Division, it is clear from the test results included in the application as filed that the technical problem solved by the present application was to provide novel compounds not having just some activity, but compounds having an activity higher than that of NG or ISDN. In the Board's judgment, it is not permissible to ignore, for the purpose of defining the technical problem, any technical evidence establishing technically useful properties of the claimed compounds, including the obtained level of activity.

Document (1) does not contain even the slightest indication as to how to modify the chemical structure of the compounds it describes in order to obtain the high level of activity required for the solution of the above technical problem. According to the present amended Claim 1 the claimed compounds must contain at least one aromatic nitro group and an OR group in position 8 of the benzodioxane ring system, structural elements which are not comprised by the general formula of document (1) (see point II above). Thus this document could not suggest these structural modifications as a solution to the above technical problem. It is therefore not necessary in the present case to rely on a direct comparison with a compound described in document (1).

5. Since the Examining Division had relied in its decision on the earlier appeal decision T 164/83 (OJ EPO 1987, 149), without, however, considering the particular facts upon which that decision was based, the Board wishes to observe that the determination of the appropriate starting point for the formulation of the technical problem depends on the facts of each individual case. In the case decided in T 164/83 the claimed subject-matter overlapped with that of the document which was found to be representative for the closest state of the art, and in respect of the activity of the claimed compounds falling within that overlapping area it was found, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, that a person skilled in the art would expect it to be quantitatively comparable with that of the prior art compounds (see No. 6 of the Reasons).

By contrast, in the present case the claimed compounds are structurally well distinguished from those described in document (1), as set out in paragraph 4.6 above. Therefore, the conclusion drawn from the different facts of the case decided in T 164/83, namely that technical progress shown in comparison with marketed products as an alleged support, cannot be a substitute for the demonstration of inventive step with regard to the relevant closest state of the art (see No. 8 of the Reasons, last paragraph), cannot be relevant to the present case, where the marketed products are also the structurally most closely related products which can realistically be taken as the basis for the assessment of the inventive step.

In conclusion, the Board wishes to observe that the circumstances which had to be taken into account in the present case, in particular the age and the insufficient content of document (1), were rather exceptional and that the direct comparison of a claimed compound with the structurally most closely related compound of the state of the art remains normally the most straightforward, and very often the sole, method of deciding the issue of inventive step.

6. For the above reasons the Board holds that the group of compounds according to Claim 1 of the first set meets the requirements of the EPC. Claims 3 and 4 of this set, relating to processes for preparing these compounds, as well as Claims 5 and 8, relating to pharmaceutical compositions containing them and to the use of these compounds in the preparation of pharmaceutical compositions, define the same invention as Claim 1 in different patent categories. Claims 2, 6 and 7 relate to specific embodiments of this invention. Claims 1, 2 and 4. of the second set (for AT) correspond to Claims 3, 4 and 8 of the first set. Claim 3 of this set relates to the preparation of the compound of Claim 2 of the first set. These claims are therefore likewise allowable.

However, the description is not yet adapted to the present set of claims. Thus not all requirements of the EPC are met by the present application documents. The Board therefore uses its power under Article 111(1) EPC and remits the case to the Examining Division for proper adaptation of the description.

Order

ORDER

For these reasons it is decided that

1. The decision under appeal is set aside.

2. The case is remitted to the Examining Division with the order to grant a patent with the two sets of claims submitted on 4 March 1994, after appropriate adaptation of the description.

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