INFORMATION FROM THE EPO
Information concerning interviews and oral proceedings to be held as a video conference
From 1 January 1998 on, a new means of communication between the EPO and users of the European patent system will be available: applicants and their representatives will be able to request that an interview or oral proceedings before an examining division be held as a video conference. Whether this new service can be extended to other proceedings, such as opposition proceedings and proceedings before the EPO acting as International Preliminary Examining Authority under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, will be decided at a later stage once sufficient experience has been gained in European patent grant proceedings.
1. How to request a video conference
Any request for an interview or oral proceedings to be held as a video conference should be filed with the EPO in the same way as any other request concerning a pending European patent application. In particular, the number of the application concerned has to be indicated. If oral proceedings are to take place as a video conference, the applicant will be asked to forgo in advance his right to oral proceedings being held in the traditional form at the EPO premises after the video conference. In such a case, the request should therefore contain the following declaration:
"The applicant renounces in advance and irrevocably his right to oral proceedings being held in the traditional form at the EPO premises on the same subject after the requested video conference."
2. How the EPO will deal with a request for a video conference
The request will be forwarded to the primary examiner in charge of the corresponding file for decision. In the case of oral proceedings to be held as a video conference, the competence for the decision lies with the examining division. The first examiner or the examining division, as the case may be, has a discretionary power and will, on a case by case basis, decide on the suitability of video conferencing. If the request cannot be allowed, the person making the request will be informed by a communication indicating the reasons for the refusal. No appealable decision will be issued on the matter.
If the request is allowed, the person making the request will be contacted in order to arrange the date and time of the video conference, which has to be on a working day within Office working hours. This will be confirmed by a written communication or fax containing any further appropriate information. In parallel, the internal procedure for reserving the Office video-conference studio will be followed.
3. Equipment required
The EPO video-conference studios employ ISDN technology (H.261/H.320 ITU compatible, channel bonding or H. 244 Videocoding CIF H. 261, Audiocoding G.722, max. transmission rate 384 Kbit/s using 6 channels). Each studio has a fax device and a document camera with zoom function. Video conferences must be carried out at a transmission rate of at least 256 Kbit/s. The applicant or representative has to ensure that his video-conference equipment will meet the minimum transmission rate. The use of video-conference equipment linked to personal computers with a maximum transmission rate of 128 Kbit/s is not possible in proceedings before the EPO.
4. Location of the video-conference studios of the EPO
The video-conference studios of the EPO in Munich, The Hague and Berlin will be available in European patent grant proceedings. The video-conference call number to be used by the applicant will be indicated in the communication allowing the video conference.
5. Costs
The EPO does not require the payment of a specific fee for an interview or oral proceedings to take place as a video conference. The person making the request will have to bear the transmission costs, and will be asked by the EPO to dial the indicated number of the video-conference device of the Office on the date and at the time which have been agreed.
Further information can be obtained by contacting Mr Prussen, Department Building Administration (tel.: (+49-89) 23 99-44 20).