EPO meets with CNH Industrial

On 16 October, the European Patent Office (EPO) held a high-level online meeting with CNH Industrial. The meeting forms part of the EPO’s ongoing efforts to deepen co-operation with industry as part of its Quality Action Plan 2025, fostering dialogue on consistency, efficiency and quality across the patent granting process (PGP).

CNH Industrial is an Italian-American multinational corporation headquartered in Amsterdam and ranks among the Netherlands’ top ten applicants at the EPO. This was the 22^nd meeting between the EPO and a large applicant in 2025. Over 100 such exchanges have taken place since the launch of the Strategic Plan 2023.

The impact of digital PGP tools, developments at the Unified Patent Court and AI

The CNH Industrial delegation of 12 participants was led by Olivier Gicquel, Global Head of Intellectual Property, and included patent attorneys joining from Belgium, France, Italy, Brazil, India and the United States. Discussions focused on patent quality, digital tools including the MyEPO shared area, and developments around the Unitary Patent (UP) and Unified Patent Court (UPC). CNH Industrial representatives explained that they are closely observing the rapid and positive evolution of UPC case law.

Mr Gicquel also highlighted opportunities and challenges related to artificial intelligence (AI), which he said are increasingly relevant across CNH Industrial’s operations. The EPO and CNH Industrial also discussed recent metrics relating to the company’s files. Mr Gicquel commented that the smooth processing of files “would not be possible without the quality work of the EPO” and expressed his appreciation for the thorough and comprehensive search reports produced by EPO examiners. Mr Gicquel thanked the EPO for the opportunity to exchange views and welcomed the invitation to hold a follow-up technical meeting to explore operational topics further.

More about CNH Industrial

CNH Industrial is an Italian-American multinational corporation headquartered in Amsterdam. The company designs, produces and sells agricultural machinery and construction equipment. It received the gold medal at the AGRITECHNICA 2023 Innovation Awards, underscoring its commitment to technological excellence and innovation. CNH Industrial operates in 180 countries and employs around 40 000 people across 48 R&D centres and 42 manufacturing facilities worldwide. The company reported USD 24.7 billion in consolidated revenues in 2023.

With 165 European patent filings, CNH Industrial ranks as the EPO’s 154^th top applicant in the Patent Index 2024.