INPADOC unlocked
Information
Désolé. Actuellement, cette page n'existe pas en français.
Understanding legal event coverage
INPADOC legal event data constitutes a core element of the EPO’s patent information services, providing a consolidated and standardised overview of legal status changes reported by patent authorities worldwide. By capturing both administrative and postgrant events, INPADOC supports transparent, cross-jurisdictional monitoring of legal developments. In this edition of Patent Knowledge News, we outline how users can interpret the available coverage information.
Contents and coverage of the INPADOC legal event data
The INPADOC coverage table provides an overview of worldwide legal event reporting. For each authority, it lists the covered event types as well as the first and last gazette dates, enabling users to track newly added data (for example, by filtering by year). For each event code, the table also includes application numbers illustrating where the event has occurred.
Legal event descriptions are provided both in the original language (where available) and in English. Users requiring broader event categories or definitions can consult the INPADOC legal event table. Recorded events are displayed in Espacenet under Legal events, accompanied by their descriptions and categories.
INPADOC codes for postgrant events in Espacenet
Espacenet displays INPADOC postgrant event codes that reflect the legal status of national patents. The principal EP postgrant codes include:
- EP PG25 – Lapsed in a contracting state
- EP PGFP – Annual fee paid to national office
- EP PGRI – Patent reinstated in a contracting state
These events are based on announcements made by national patent offices and transmitted to the EPO. Where available, the reason for lapse is shown in the event details.
Image 1: Example for postgrant event PG25 as shown in Espacenet
A dedicated worksheet, “statistics postgrant EP,” has been added to the INPADOC coverage table. It summarises postgrant events by member state, including the date on which events were added and the total volume of occurrences.
Image 2: Statistics postgrant EP, status 30 March 2026
Postgrant codes for unitary protection
The following INPADOC codes indicate the status of renewal fee payments for European patents with unitary effect:
- EP U20 - Renewal fee for the European patent with unitary effect paid
- EP U21 - Renewal fee for the European patent with unitary effect paid with additional fee
- EP U90 - Renewal fees not paid noting of loss of rights
- EP U93 - Unitary patent lapsed
Image 3: Example for postgrant codes for unitary protection
Legal event codes
Only publicly available records display legal events. The INPADOC legal event code table contains all event codes, including those recently created but not yet observed in practice. Newly introduced codes—for example, for Korea and Canada—are listed with their creation dates (e.g., U13 and U14 created on 5 December 2025).
Image 4: Newly introduced codes (here Korea) listed with creation dates
Weekly updates and further resources
Weekly updated XLSX files covering DOCDB bibliographic data, INPADOC legal event data, and legal event codes are available on the EPO website. Updates are published every Thursday.
Image 5: Example for recent postgrant events
Image 6: Weekly updates
Keywords: INPADOC, legal events, legal event codes, legal event coverage
