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 0355/99 (Ketene dimers / EKA Chemicals) 30-07-2002
Facebook X Linkedin Email

T 0355/99 (Ketene dimers / EKA Chemicals) 30-07-2002

European Case Law Identifier
ECLI:EP:BA:2002:T035599.20020730
Date of decision
30 July 2002
Case number
T 0355/99
Petition for review of
-
Application number
94908540.1
IPC class
C07C 45/89
Language of proceedings
EN
Distribution
DISTRIBUTED TO BOARD CHAIRMEN (C)

Download and more information:

Decision in EN 31.41 KB
Documentation of the appeal procedure can be found in the European Patent Register
Bibliographic information is available in:
EN
Versions
Unpublished
Application title

A process for the production of ketene dimers

Applicant name
Eka Chemicals AB
Opponent name
Hercules Incorporated
Board
3.3.01
Headnote
-
Relevant legal provisions
European Patent Convention Art 54(1) 1973
European Patent Convention Art 54(2) 1973
European Patent Convention Art 56 1973
European Patent Convention Art 88 1973
Keywords

Right of priority (no) - no specific disclosure of the claimed process in the previous application as a whole

Novelty (yes) - process not directly and unambiguously derivable from the prior art

Inventive step (yes) - characterising features not suggested in the cited documents

Catchword
-
Cited decisions
T 0026/85
T 0012/90
T 0133/92
T 0290/86
Citing decisions
T 0042/04
T 0360/01
T 0566/01
T 0326/02
T 0299/03
T 0497/03
T 1247/03
T 0025/04
T 0210/04
T 0236/04
T 0927/04
T 0148/05
T 0808/05
T 0995/05
T 1008/05
T 1103/05
T 1121/05
T 0479/04

I. The Appellant (Proprietor of the patent) lodged an appeal against the interlocutory decision of the Opposition Division maintaining the European patent No. 0 684 940 (European patent application 94. 908 540.1, filed on 14 February 1994, published as WO 94/19306, and claiming priority from the previous Swedish application No. 9 300 584-1 filed on 22. February 1993) on the basis of the claims of the then pending fourth auxiliary request.

II. The patent was granted on the basis of 11 claims, the only independent claim 1 reading as follows:

"1. A process for the production of ketene dimers from fatty acid halides by reaction with tertiary amines, characterised in that the process is operated batchwise and that the reaction is started in the presence of an initial reaction mixture containing ketene dimer and pre-prepared crystals of tertiary amine hydrogen halide and is carried out in the presence of not more than 10% by weight, based on the amount of fatty acid halide, of additional solvents."

III. The opposition was filed against the patent as a whole, and based on the ground of lack of inventive step as indicated in Article 100(a) EPC. It was supported by several documents, including:

(1) US-A-2 369 919, and

(5) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 69, pages 2444 to 2448 (1947).

Furthermore, during the opposition proceedings, the Respondent (Opponent) also contested novelty and inventive step of the claimed process in view of the late filed document

(7) EP-A-0 550 107,

which was published after the priority date, but before the filing date of the patent in suit.

IV. The Opposition Division held that the subject-matter of the claims as granted, as well as those of the auxiliary requests 1 to 3 then on file, implicitly lacked novelty in view of document (7), since it had to be expected that in a batchwise large scale industrial process each time a rest of a previous batch would be present at the start of the preparation of the next batch.

However, concerning the fourth auxiliary request, it decided that, account being taken of the introduced feature in Claim 1 as granted indicating that the weight ratio of the initial reaction mixture to the fatty acid halide had to be within the range of from 1:1 to 1:15, the claimed subject-matter was found to meet the requirements of the EPC. In this context, the Opposition Division held that in view of said introduced feature the claimed priority could not be acknowledged anymore, and that therefore document (7) represented prior art within the meaning of Article 54(1) and (2) EPC.

V. Oral proceedings before the Board were held on 30 July 2002. The Respondent was not represented there, as announced in its letter of 13 June 2002.

VI. The Appellant defended the patent in suit on the basis of the claims as granted. Moreover, he filed several auxiliary requests.

He argued that the subject-matter of the claims as granted was novel, since document (7) did not directly and unambiguously disclose a batchwise process wherein the initial mixture contained ketene dimer and pre-prepared crystals of tertiary amine hydrogen halide. In this context, he submitted in particular that said document neither disclosed a large scale process, nor suggested a batchwise process involving more than once the use of the same batch reactor without intermediate cleaning.

The Appellant also submitted that the claimed process involved an inventive step in the light of the cited documents, since these documents did not provide any incentive to a skilled person to start a batchwise reaction in the presence of the initial mixture as defined in Claim 1 as granted.

VII. The Respondent argued with respect to the subject-matter of the claims as granted that the claimed priority was not valid, since the priority document only disclosed a process in which the reaction was started in the presence of pre-prepared ketene dimer or a reaction mixture product containing ketene dimer, which mixture product not only contained crystals of a tertiary amine hydrogen halide, but also unreacted starting compounds and by-products. Therefore, document (7) represented prior art within the meaning of both Article 54(1)(2) and 56 EPC.

Furthermore, he maintained his opinion that the claimed process lacked novelty in view of document (7). In particular, he submitted

(i) that this document not only disclosed a batchwise preparation method, but also the use of an initial reaction mixture containing ketene dimer and pre-prepared crystals of tertiary amine hydrogen halide as indicated in example 4, and

(ii) that it had to be expected that in a batchwise large scale industrial process each time a rest of a previous batch would be present at the start of the preparation of the next batch.

Concerning inventive step, he submitted that the claimed process was obvious in view of document (7) alone or in combination with document (5), or in view of document (1) in combination with document (5), since said document (5) recommended the seeding of the reaction mixture with tertiary amine hydrogen halide crystals before carrying out the dehydrohalogenation.

VIII. The Appellant requested that the decision under appeal be set aside and that the patent be maintained, on the basis of the patent as granted, or, alternatively, on the basis of any of its auxiliary requests.

The Respondent requested, in its written submissions, that the appeal be dismissed.

IX. At the conclusion of the oral proceedings the Board's decision was pronounced.

1. The appeal is admissible.

2. Main request

2.1. Right of priority

2.1.1. In reply to the Respondent's objection with respect to the right of priority, the Appellant submitted that the priority could be acknowledged since the priority document disclosed the use of an initial mixture containing ketene dimer and pre-prepared crystals of tertiary amine hydrogen halide.

2.1.2. However, in the Board's judgement, it can only directly and unambiguously be derived from the priority document that, at the start of the reaction, a pre-prepared ketene dimer or a reaction mixture product containing ketene dimer can be applied (see Claim 1, page 6, lines 18 to 21 and examples 3 and 4). Due to the reaction scheme for preparing ketene dimers by reacting a fatty acid halide with a tertiary amine, such a reaction mixture product not only contains unreacted starting compounds and by-products, but also tertiary amine hydrogen halide crystals in an amount which is at least equivalent to the amount of formed ketene dimer. On the other hand, according to Claim 1 of the patent in suit any initial reaction mixture comprising ketene dimer and crystals of a tertiary amine hydrogen halide can be applied, i.e. initial reaction mixtures comprising low amounts of crystals such as 1% by weight (see patent in suit, column 4, lines 30 to 35). Therefore, this broad feature of present Claim 1 cannot be derived from the priority document.

2.1.3. Thus, under the circumstances of the present case, the Board concludes that the claimed priority cannot be acknowledged, and that document (7) being published before the filing date of the patent in suit represents prior art within the meaning of both Article 54(1)(2) and 56 EPC.

2.2. Novelty

2.2.1. Regarding novelty the Respondent submitted, in particular, that the claimed process lacked novelty in view of document (7), since this document not only disclosed a batchwise preparation method, but also the use of an initial reaction mixture containing ketene dimer and crystals of tertiary amine hydrogen halide as indicated in example 4, and because it had to be expected that in a batchwise large scale industrial process each time a rest of a previous batch would be present at the start of the preparation of the next batch.

2.2.2. However, in the Board's judgment, document (7) does not disclose a large scale batchwise process, let alone such a process involving more than once the use of the same batch reactor without intermediate cleaning. Moreover, the Board observes that said Example 4 only concerns a continuous process, wherein the reaction was started in the presence of ketene dimer alone.

2.2.3. Thus, in accordance with the established case law of the Boards of Appeal that a document can only take away novelty of claimed subject-matter if it is directly and unambiguously derivable from that document, the Board concludes that the claimed process is novel over document (7).

2.2.4. Concerning the decisions of the Boards of Appeal, namely T 0026/85, T 0012/90, T 0133/92 and T 0290/86, cited by the Respondent in support of his submissions, the Board observes that they are considered as not relevant, since they relate to quite different cases. In this context, the Board emphasises that the question of novelty has to be decided in view of the facts of each particular case, and that the essential point in assessing novelty is that it is not sufficient for a finding of lack of novelty of claimed features that such features could have been derived from a prior document. In order to be novelty destroying, there must be a clear and unmistakable teaching of the claimed features in a prior art document.

2.3. Inventive step

2.3.1. In deciding whether or not a claimed invention meets this criterium on an objective basis, the Boards of Appeal consistently apply the "problem-solution approach", which essentially involves identifying the closest state of the art as the starting point, determining in the light thereof the technical problem which the claimed invention addresses and successfully solves, and examining whether or not the claimed solution to this problem is obvious for the skilled person in view of the state of the art.

2.3.2. The "closest state of the art" is normally a prior art document disclosing subject-matter aiming at the same objective as the claimed invention and having the most relevant technical features in common.

2.3.3. Thus, in view of the fact that document (7) is the only cited document concerned with the problem of carrying out a process of preparing ketene dimers starting from acid halides and tertiary amines at sufficiently low viscosity in the substantial absence of additional solvents, the Board considers that this document represents the closest prior art.

2.3.4. Document (7) discloses a process for preparing ketene dimers in which carboxylic acid chlorides are reacted with a tertiary amine characterised in that

(a) the reaction is carried out in the absence of a solvent,

(b) the carboxylic acid chloride is fed to the triethyl amine,

(c) this feeding is carried out at a rate of at most 3. moles/hour per mole of triethyl amine,

(d) a molar ratio of the acid chloride to the triethyl amine of 1:1.025 to 1:2 is applied, and

(e) the mixing, feed rate and heat exchange are controlled such that the viscosity of the mixture is maintained at less than 250 mPa.s, measured at 60°C (rate of shear higher than 100 l/sec).

2.3.5. Regarding this closest state of the art, the Appellant submitted essentially that the process according to the claimed invention is much more simple than the process of document (7), since the claimed process can be carried out at a sufficiently low viscosity without being necessarily bound to the combination of the feature (a) to (e) as indicated in point 2.3.4 above.

2.3.6. Thus, in view of the Appellant's submissions it is the Board's position that in the light of document (7) the technical problem underlying the patent in suit is the provision of a technically simplified process for preparing ketene dimers of a satisfying purity in the absence or substantial absence of an additional solvent, while maintaining a sufficiently low viscosity (see column 1, line 51 to column 2, line 16, and column 2, line 24 to column 3, line 17, of the patent in suit).

2.3.7. According to present Claim 1 this technical problem is solved by providing a process in which the reaction is essentially characterised in that the process is operated batchwise, and that the reaction is started in the presence of an initial reaction mixture containing ketene dimer and pre-prepared crystals of tertiary amine hydrogen halide and is carried out in the presence of not more than 10% by weight, based on the amount of fatty acid halide, of additional solvents.

2.3.8. Having regard to the technical information provided in the patent in suit, in particular in the examples, the Board considers it plausible that the technical problem as defined above has been solved. The results achieved according to the examples, all being performed in the absence of an additional solvent, were never contested by the Respondent.

2.3.9. The question now is whether a skilled person starting from document (7), and having knowledge of the other cited documents, would arrive at the solution of the above defined problem as claimed.

2.3.10. In this context, the Respondent argued that the claimed process would be obvious to the skilled person in view of document (7), since this document teaches that the preparation of the ketene dimers can be carried out batchwise (see Claim 6), and because it follows from example 4 that the reaction components (carboxylic acid chloride and tertiary amine) can be added to a reaction medium containing ketene dimer and crystals of a tertiary amine hydrogen halide.

However, said example 4 concerns a continuous process, which is started in the presence of ketene dimer only. Furthermore, the batchwise embodiment as disclosed in document (7) (see page 3, lines 15 to 24, and Example 1), is always conducted by adding the carboxylic acid chloride to the tertiary amine as initial reaction medium.

Therefore, no incentive can be found in document (7) to the solution of the present problem as claimed, which involves the use of an initial reaction medium as defined in Claim 1 and a batchwise process as a mandatory feature.

2.3.11. The Respondent also submitted that the subject matter of Claim 1 was obvious in view of the combined teaching of documents (7) and (5), since document (5) recommended the seeding of the reaction mixture with tertiary amine crystals before carrying out the dehydrohalogenation.

It is true that document (5) describes a process of preparing ketene dimers by adding a tertiary amine to a solution of a carboxylic acid halide, which is seeded with crystals of the tertiary amine hydrogen halide (see page 2446, right column, under "Synthesis of Ketene Dimers and Derivatives.").

However, the purpose of this seeding was to avoid the forming of a gelatinous mass and to achieve a good filtration (see the footnote 13 on said page 2446). Therefore, the teaching of document (5) in this respect does not concern the technical problem underlying the patent in suit as defined above, and consequently does not give a pointer to its solution.

Moreover, the Board observes, that the process as described in document (5) comprising a seeding of the reaction solutions with crystals of the tertiary amine hydrogen halide, which allows an advantageous crystal growth, involves the use of solutions comprising a large excess of solvent. However, such solutions totally differ from the reaction media as applied in accordance of Claim 1 of the patent in suit, which substantially comprise the starting mixture of the ketene dimer and the crystals of the tertiary amine, as well as at most a very small amount of solvent. Thus, in view of the different reaction media, the skilled person would not expect a similar effect on the crystal growth, and consequently would not have any reason to apply a seeding with crystals of a tertiary amine hydrogen halide under the conditions of the process of the patent in suit.

Furthermore, the technical teaching of document (5) - like document (7) - does not give any pointer to the skilled person to the use of an initial mixture comprising ketene dimer and crystals of the tertiary amine hydrogen halide.

Thus, having regard to the above considerations, the Board concludes that also a combination of the teaching of document (7) with that of document (5) does not lead a skilled person to the claimed solution of the problem as defined above.

2.3.12. Finally, the Respondent submitted that the claimed subject-matter was obvious in view of the combined teaching of documents (1) and (5).

Document (1) discloses the preparation of ketene dimers by reacting an acid halide, preferably an acid chloride, with a tertiary amine, such as triethyl amine, in which the reaction is carried out in the presence of any organic solvent which is inert towards the reactants and the ketene dimers formed (see page 1, left column, lines 35 to 44; page 1, right column, lines 13 to 23; and page 2, right column, line 61 to page 3, left column, line 7). The amount of solvent should be sufficient to dissolve the ketene dimer, thus facilitating the separation of the insoluble tertiary amine hydrochloride by filtration, whereby the use of 100 to 200 parts solvent per tenth mole of each reactant was found satisfactory (see page 3, left column, lines 8 to 14, and the examples).

Furthermore, it also discloses that it is feasible to use an excess of the tertiary amine as solvent in cases where the ketene dimer can be readily separated from the amine and its hydrochloride (see left-hand column on page 3, lines 14 to 18). However, having regard to the teaching of this document as a whole, in the Board's judgment, this embodiment, which is apparently less preferred in view of purity problems with respect to the ketene dimer products, also involves the use of a large excess of solvent, i.e. a large amount of the tertiary amine acting as a solvent (about 10 to 20 moles of triethyl amine, which would correspond to about 100 to 200 parts solvent per tenth mole of each reactant).

In any case, document (1) - like document (5) - does not give any incentive to the skilled person to start the reaction in the presence of the initial reaction mixture as defined in present Claim 1.

2.3.13. Thus in view of these considerations, the Board concludes that the solution of the above defined technical problem as claimed in Claim 1 of the patent in suit is not obvious to the skilled person in the light of the cited documents either taken alone or in combination, and consequently involves an inventive step within the meaning of Article 56 EPC.

Claims 2 to 11 relate to particular embodiments within the ambit of the subject-matter of Claim 1. They are therefore also allowable.

3. Auxiliary requests

3.1. Since the subject-matter of the claims of the main request is allowable for the reasons set out above, there is no need for the Board to decide on any of the auxiliary requests.

Order

ORDER

For these reasons it is decided that:

1. The decision under appeal is set aside.

2. The patent is maintained as granted.

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