2012

The EPO welcomed the adoption by the European Parliament in Strasbourg today of two draft regulations on the creation of the unitary patent, hailing it as a historic achievement.

Improving the exchange of data between the two offices and enhancing patent quality globally were two of the main topics in focus at the annual bilateral meeting of the European Patent Office (EPO) and the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China (SIPO), which took place yesterday in Brussels.

Breaking new ground in providing access to the most comprehensive technological information, the EPO and the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China (SIPO) today launched the Chinese-English component of the EPO's free automatic translation service Patent Translate.

This conference, hosted by the OECD in Paris in collaboration with the EPO, is one of the most important events for patent statistics worldwide.

The heads of the European Patent Office (EPO), the Japan Patent Office (JPO), and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), met in Kyoto, Japan this week for their 30th annual Trilateral Conference, signing a declaration pledging to further develop patent systems around the world through improved work-sharing.

All public documents of the Administrative Council will be made available after each session and published on the EPO's website.

Opening the 22nd EPO Patent Information Conference, which took place in Hamburg on 6 to 8 November 2012, Mr Battistelli emphasised that patent information was a core element of the patent system.

After reporting to the Administrative Council last week on the completion of the four technical, fact-finding studies carried out by the Tegernsee Experts Group, the European Patent Office is making these studies available to the public on its website.

In a move to further improve multilingual access to information contained in patent documents, the EPO today made available a second set of European languages in its free automatic translation service Patent Translate.

The President of the European Patent Office (EPO), Benoît Battistelli, met with representatives of government, industry and academia in Bulgaria to discuss how to further strengthen the country's patent system, and enhance co-operation between the EPO and the Bulgarian Patent Office.

"Finland, as a country with a growing, export-oriented industrial base and a strong culture of innovation, is an important member of the group of European countries which have chosen to put their patenting resources together and thereby help to bolster the competitive position of European industry in the globalised economy," said EPO's Vice-President for Legal and International Affairs, Raimund Lutz.

Participating in the Governing Bodies of WIPO meeting this week, EPO President Benoît Battistelli also used the opportunity of his visit to Geneva for an exchange of views with IP decision-makers from other regions.

The EPO and the USPTO are pleased to announce that the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) scheme and some finalised CPC definitions are now available in preparation for the 1 January 2013 official launch.

The EPO's Economic and Scientific Advisory Board (ESAB) brought together some 40 international patent experts yesterday in Leuven, Belgium for a workshop dedicated to patent thickets.

EPO President Benoît Battistelli hosted a reception today at the EPO's office in The Hague in honour of patent examiner Thierry Schmitter, who won a bronze medal at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London in the Single-Person Keelboat category.

On 3 September 2012 several amendments to Irish patent legislation came into effect, paving the way for Ireland's accession to the London Agreement.

In his first official visit to the Principality of Liechtenstein, the President of the EPO, Benoît Battistelli, met with representatives of government and industry to discuss how to maintain and enhance the role of the patent system in boosting innovation in the country.

EPO examiner Thierry Schmitter won a bronze medal at Paralympics in London in the Single-Person Keelboat (2.4mR) category.

Alberto Casado Cerviño has taken up office as Vice-President of the EPO, in charge of Directorate-General Operational Support.

The entry into force of the EPO-SIPO PDX agreement will reduce the administrative costs associated with processing received paper copies of priority documents and storing them in electronic record management systems.

The EPO took a major step forward in the tender procedure for the design and construction of its new "Main Building" in Rijswijk (The Hague) when its jury met recently to select the three bids which will enter the second stage of this procedure.

Nominations for the European Inventor Award 2013 are now open and anyone can have their say as we attempt to seek out the finest inventors.

At its June 2012 meeting, the Administrative Council elected Serafeim Stasinos, the head of the Hellenic delegation, as chairman of its Budget and Finance Committee.

The European Patent Office strongly welcomes the agreement reached today by EU member states on the location of the central division of the future European patent court, which removes a significant obstacle to the introduction of unitary patent protection in Europe.

The Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation today appointed Alberto Casado Cerviño to the position of Vice-President of the EPO, responsible for Directorate-General Operational Support.

Pioneers in laser eye surgery, hearing-aid devices, fuel cells, hepatitis B treatment and wireless communication honoured in Copenhagen.

Speaking at a press conference today in Copenhagen on the occasion of the European Inventor Award 2012, EPO President Benoît Battistelli highlighted Europe's innovation potential, and the need to better support inventors by introducing the planned unitary patent.

The Heads of the world's five largest intellectual property offices expressed their common conviction that the focus of future IP5 initiatives should be even more user-directed.

The Technical Board of Appeal competent in the appeal proceedings related to the so-called "Tomato" patent has decided to refer further questions of law to the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the EPO.

Rospatent and the EPO will exchange full-text versions of patent documents in Russian and English to create bilingual text corpora for use in the free Patent Translate service on the EPO's website.

EPO President emphasises success story of the European patent

EPO President Benoît Battistelli paid tribute to the achievements of Latvia in modernising its patent system for the benefit of the national and European economy.

Some 40 economists, lawyers, patent practitioners, licensing experts and university researchers from Europe, the USA and Asia met in Munich on 7/8 May

European TV station Euronews will broadcast the first in a series of programmes about the European Inventor Award tonight at 20.50 hrs CET. The first one looks at French nominees Gilles Gosselin, Jean-Louis Imbach and Marti L. Bryant, who developed a potent drug to fight hepatitis B.

A Technical Board of Appeal of the EPO has decided to revoke the so-called "Frozen sperm/XY" patent after hearing all parties in public oral proceedings in an appeal procedure today.

The agreement aims at improving the procedural framework of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) with a view to increasing its use by patent applicants.

The fifteen finalists cover the fields of medical technology and medicine, telecommunications, wastewater treatment, battery recycling, energy storage and environment, clothing, laser technology, railway manufacturing and construction.

Representatives from Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, the UK, the USA and the EPO met at Spitzingsee, near Munich last week to review efforts to harmonise national and regional patent law

The EPO and Logica have announced a project that will introduce one of the most advanced, fully digital patent offices in the world, enabling applicants and inventors to register their patents and all concerned in processing them in a more efficient and cost effective way.

The INPI and EPO will exchange patent documents in Portuguese and English to create bilingual text corpora for use in the free Patent Translate service.

The 52-year-old Croat will be in charge of the EPO's Directorate-General Administration. He succeeds Brian McGinley of Ireland, who has retired. The appointment is for five years.

Despite the financial crisis affecting Europe, the EPO experienced a new all-time record of 244 000 patents filings in 2011 (+3,7%).

President Battistelli met the Deputy Prime Minister, the Foreign Affairs Minister and the Economy Minister in Skopje. He also reviewed bilateral co-operation activities with the Director of the State Office for Industrial Property (SOIP).

Estonia marks 20 years since the re-establishment of its patent office, and 10 years of EPO membership.

In a major step to improve access to patent documents in multiple languages the EPO today launched a new machine translation service, called Patent Translate, on the EPO's website.

The two organisations have signed a memorandum of understanding with a view to furthering co-operation on the role of patents as an economic tool.

In a dedicated set of FAQs, the EPO informs on the patent, the legal basis for the grant of patents in the plant sector and on the number of patents applied for and granted in which plants are concerned.

The Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office (JPO), Yoshiyuki Iwai, and the President of the European Patent Office (EPO), Benoît Battistelli, have signed an agreement which will provide users of the patent system with better machine translations of patents from Japanese into English and then into German and French.

The role and structure of fees, the importance of patent quality and challenges to the functioning of the patent system from overlapping sets of patent rights, so-called patent thickets: these are the issues to be addressed by the Economic and Scientific Advisory Board of the European Patent Office.

The EPO received 243 000 applications, 3% up on the 2010 record figure of 237 500. It granted 62 115 patents, 7% more than in 2010.

Made up of internationally recognised experts with a global perspective and an emphasis on Europe, the board will advise the EPO on economic and social studies.