EPO worldwide legal event data (INPADOC)

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Legal event data relates to information on the events during the lifetime of a patent application. INPADOC contains legal events from over 50 international patent authorities worldwide, available as backfile and frontfile data.

Download a sample file

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INPADOC data is the backbone of many EPO legal event products and services. It includes legal events from the patent gazettes and registers of various national patent authorities, including the EPO and WIPO.

With INPADOC you can:

download weekly frontfiles and an annual backfile
retrieve data in XML
build your own database or search tool and link legal events to your existing bibliographic records

Getting started

Check the sample data and information on the main features of our raw data products.
Order the product from csc@epo.org.
You will receive your user name and password for the download area by e-mail.
Process the backfile first.
Download the regular weekly exchange files (usually Tuesdays).

Conditions

Coverage	See weekly updated statistics
Format	XML ST36
Volume	Frontfile: approx. 200 MB weekly Backfile: approx. 10 GB
Delivery	Current data (frontfile) is available as a weekly download. Backfile data is available for download once a year.
Price	Please visit our online shop for prices.

The EPO's bulk data sets are also referred to as "raw data products" or "EPO databases".

The terms and conditions for licensing of EPO databases apply.

Further information

INPADOC user manual

The manual contains information about the legal event exchange format and the layout of file records, data records and attribute lists. It includes explanations of legal events tags and a sample file.