Travaux préparatoires

In the years preceding the Diplomatic Conference, extensive preparatory work took place within the European Patent Organisation (mainly in the Administrative Council and in the Committee on Patent Law), on the basis of more than 80 documents prepared by the EPO, national delegations and user groups. In addition, during the 10 days of the Diplomatic Conference in November 2000, around 50 documents were submitted for discussion.

All these documents - as well as the Minutes of the meetings of the Administrative Council and the Committee on Patent Law - form the travaux préparatoires to the EPC 2000.

While the Basic proposal for the revision of the EPC (MR/2/00) undoubtedly forms the most important reference document, users interested in studying the details of the travaux préparatoires may wish to consult the complete set of documents. For that purpose, the Basic proposal (MR/2/00) lists, in the Explanatory remarks accompanying each proposal for amendment of an article, all the relevant preparatory documents, thus enabling users to retrieve the legislative history of a particular provision.

The documents which form the travaux préparatoires to the EPC 2000 are grouped according to the body where they were discussed:

• Committee on Patent Law
• Administrative Council
• Budget and Finance Committee
• Diplomatic Conference