EPO meets with Qualcomm

On 27 January, the European Patent Office (EPO) held an online meeting with Qualcomm, a leading innovator in intelligent computing solutions.

The Qualcomm delegation, made up of participants in San Diego and Munich, was led by Senior VP and Chief IP Counsel Robert Giles. The EPO delegation was led by Vice-President Patent Granting Process Steve Rowan, who was joined by several managers and senior experts.

The meeting forms part of the EPO’s ongoing efforts under its Quality Action Plan to foster closer dialogue with industry. The aim is to deepen exchanges with users on consistency, efficiency and quality across the patent granting process.

Fruitful exchanges on the importance of quality

During the meeting, the EPO presented the five drivers of its Strategic Plan 2028, placing particular emphasis on topics such as quality, sustainability, geographical outreach and the Unitary Patent.

Qualcomm expressed appreciation for the opportunity for dialogue with the EPO, with Robert Giles complimenting the quality of EPO search products in particular, saying that “EPO examiners are doing a fantastic job” and emphasising how quality plays a key role in portfolio management.

Qualcomm additionally applauded the EPO’s ongoing efforts to foster the harmonisation of substantive patent law within IP5, the forum of the five largest intellectual property offices in the world, which includes the EPO. Steve Rowan acknowledged the need for consistency and used as an example the current Trilateral working group on the examination of AI inventions.

The topic of Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) was also discussed, with Qualcomm noting how crucial SEPs are to their business, particularly in the area of wireless technologies. The EPO presented its prior art datasets, which contain 5.5 million standard documents, as well as its workstreams on patents and standards. Qualcomm acknowledged these efforts and indicated that it views these datasets as contributing to the overwhelming quality of the EPO’s search products.

The meeting concluded with the EPO proposing a technical follow-up meeting to dive further into the topics discussed.

About Qualcomm

Qualcomm Incorporated is a multinational corporation from the United States headquartered in San Diego, California. It is a world-leading innovator in intelligent computing solutions and has pioneered many foundational advancements in wireless communications that underpin the competitiveness of modern cellular standards, including 5G and now 6G.

Qualcomm ranked fourth among the EPO’s top applicants in the EPO Patent Index 2024, with 3 015 filings. In 2025, the company had a strong Unitary Patent uptake rate of 35.2%. Qualcomm has also been the top user of the PCT pilot between the EPO and the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) since the pilot’s launch in 2020.