Why are user access rights important and what is a company administrator?

We take the security and confidentiality of your information very seriously.

That’s why, before allowing you to access confidential patent procedure-related information online using our MyEPO services (like MyEPO Portfolio, Online Filing 2.0, Central Fee Payment), we require you first to create an EPO account with two-factor authentication and also to confirm to us your identity and company.

We also require someone from the company associated with your account to go into MyEPO Portfolio to grant you access rights.  That person is a “company administrator”,

A “company administrator” is any user shown as having administration rights in the “Admin area” of MyEPO Portfolio, and every company must have at least one company administrator.  

Note: if you are applying for a patent as a private person, and not on behalf of a company or through a professional representative, then you will have administration rights for yourself only.

Company administrators can grant other users:

• administration rights
• access to the company mailbox
• the right to pay fees and view payment plans
• access to view portfolios of applications, including non-public documents
• access to draft and send submissions, duly signed by the appointed representative

They can do this for all users whose EPO account was associated with the administrator’s company when they registered to use MyEPO services.

Administrators are also responsible for

• informing the EPO about changes concerning the company
• regularly checking whether access has been correctly granted to users
• removing access immediately when users leave the company or change roles
• identifying “recipients” (representatives, associations or self-representing parties) whose EPO communications will be sent to the company mailbox and whose portfolios can be accessed using MyEPO Portfolio

In summary: company administrators have a vital role to play in ensuring that online access to confidential patent procedure-related information is only granted to those members of staff who should have access.