Behind the scenes: search and examination

Do you want to get insight into the various procedures before the EPO and enter into dialogue with experienced examiners and members of the Boards of Appeal, to have a look at what happens behind the scenes?

Would you like to learn more about how texts laid down in the EPC and described in the EPO Guidelines for Examination are implemented by EPO examiners on a day-to-day basis? Or about how examiners tackle challenging searches? How a division reaches a consensus on proposing a patent grant or, conversely, on refusing a patent application? What patent examiners discuss during the breaks in oral proceedings in opposition? Or how members of the Boards of Appeal review decisions of the first-instance departments?

This course is an intermediate-level course and the first of a series of two courses. It deals with search and examination. The second course is an advanced course and can be booked separately. It focusses on opposition and appeal proceedings.

This course addresses the topics of "Search & Examination". You will be given a unique insight in the work of an examiner that is generally not or barely described in guidelines or in the EPC. You will have the opportunity to exchange interactively during a live session with EPO examiners, who will present you with examples to illustrate the practical application of the legal texts by EPO staff in their daily work. 

The second course will address the topics of "Opposition & Appeal" where you will have the chance to interact during a live session with experienced EPO examiners in opposition, as well as with members of the Boards of Appeal. It is scheduled to take place in September.