Patent literature citations going solely digital
Patent literature documents cited in search and examination proceedings under the EPC and PCT will be accessed via Espacenet from 1 October 2024. Paper copies will no longer be provided.
The EPO can save six million pages per year by providing users with instant and easy access to patent documents cited during the patent granting process (PGP) via its state-of-the-art tools. Printed double-sided, this amounts to three million sheets of A4 paper, which would stack to a height of 185 m – twice the height of Big Ben in London! This represents another important step toward increased sustainability through a paperless PGP, in line with the Strategic Plan (SP2028).
As from 1 October, the EPO will make cited patent literature in search and examination proceedings under the EPC and the PCT only available in electronic format. Users of MyEPO Portfolio, which accounts for around 75% of all notified documents, will continue to receive those documents electronically in their mailboxes, while users still relying on postal delivery of search reports, search opinions, international preliminary examination reports and communications from examining divisions will be able to access cited patent literature via Espacenet, the world’s largest search tool containing over 150 million patent documents. Paper copies of patent literature documents cited in search and examination proceedings under the EPC and PCT will no longer be provided.
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