2015

Following the receipt of ISO 9001 certification for its patent granting process last December, the EPO has now also achieved certification for its patent information and post-grant activities.

On proposal of the European Patent Office (EPO), the Select Committee which represents the EU member states participating in the new Unitary Patent, has formalised today a series of agreements into a complete secondary legal framework comprising the implementing rules, budgetary and financial rules, the level of the renewal fees and the rules concerning the distribution of the renewal fees between the EPO and the participating member states.

A new study conducted by the European Patent Office (EPO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) shows that inventions in climate change mitigation technologies have seen a fivefold increase worldwide between 1995 and 2011.

The Select Committee responsible for supervising the EPO's activities with regard to the Unitary Patent reached agreement on the distribution of income generated by the payment of the uniform renewal fees by patent owners for maintaining their Unitary Patent.

The EPO president congratulated the Serbian IP office on its anniversary and pointed out that the country enjoyed a long tradition of industrial property.

We express our deepest solidarity with the people of France and our heartfelt sympathy goes out to the victims, their relatives and friends.

Patent information is far more than technical data, the EPO President told the EPO Patent Information Conference in Copenhagen today.

You can now search for patent documents and records on our mobile website, m.epo.org

As a result, it is now possible for patent applicants to validate their European patent applications and patents in Moldova. After validation, these patents will confer the same rights and legal protection as national patents granted in Moldova.

The programme is a co-operation between the EPO, the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) and renowned European universities and educational institutions and offers young university graduates the possibility to gain valuable on-the-job multicultural professional work experience in the competitive world of IP

The Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation held its 145th meeting in Munich on 14 and 15 October 2015 with Jesper Kongstad, Director General of the Danish Patent Office, in the chair.

This year the European Patent Office and China's State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) celebrate 30 years of bilateral co-operation - a partnership that has had a profound impact on intellectual property worldwide.

An agreement between the European Patent Office (EPO) and the Republic of Moldova allowing European patents to take legal effect in Moldova will enter into force on 1 November 2015.

The areas for co-operation are wide-ranging and include reciprocal access to patent information and the establishment of a Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot programme between the two offices.

President Benoît Battistelli of the European Patent Office (EPO) and Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, Michelle Lee renewed their commitment on the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) by signing a Memorandum of Understanding extending their cooperation to the future.

Protocol puts practical arrangements into motion, including recruitment of judges

The EPO has pre-published its “Guidelines for Search and Examination at the EPO as PCT Authority” online. They enter into force on 1 November.

This move is part of an initiative designed to enhance the transparency of how the EPO functions, and of its internal regulatory framework.

The donation will be made to the Save Me - eine Stadt sagt ja! campaign, a local initiative supported by the city of Munich and by UN Refugee Aid Germany, the fundraising partner of UNHCR-Germany. The money will go towards Save me's work in providing direct emergency assistance, and supporting permanent resettlement of the refugees, helping them to find housing, jobs and education.

President Benoît Battistelli met Italy’s Under Secretary of State Simona Vicari in Rome today.

The third event of its kind, the forum hosted key speakers and contributors who addressed an audience of over 250 attendees on subjects related to the continuing development of the unitary patent package.

Meeting in Munich yesterday the heads of the EPO and the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding relating to the introduction of the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) by the IMPI.

Two million patents and 400 standards for renewable energy and carbon mitigation technologies now accessible via one easy-to-use platform

As the two previous editions, the report aims at creating a better understanding of the current social situation at the EPO, and of the challenges ahead.

The Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation held its 144th meeting on 24 and 25 June in Munich, with Jesper Kongstad, Director General of the Danish Patent Office, holding the chair.

Reminder: User consultation closes on 30 June 2015

The EPO has extended the Global dossier service to include file wrapper data from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

On 24 June the Select Committee of the Administrative Council of the EPO endorsed, with the required ¾ majority, the European Patent Office's "True Top 4" proposal for a set of uniform renewal fees applicable to the unitary patent.

EPO President Benoît Battistelli addressed the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) in Brussels on 15 June at the invitation of JURI Chairman Pavel Svoboda MEP.

The prestigious annual award, now in its 10th year, honours outstanding inventors who through their work have made an exceptional contribution to social development, technological progress and economic growth.

The EPO has once again been rated number one for patent quality among the world's largest patent offices, according to a recent survey of patent professionals by IAM magazine.

A second roundtable meeting took place on 28 May 2015 with the Chairman of the Administrative Council, Jesper Kongstad, EPO President Benoît Battistelli, representatives of SUEPO and FFPE to resume discussion on the formal recognition of trade unions within the EPO legal framework.

The heads of the world's five largest intellectual property offices (IP5), meeting today in Suzhou, China, pledged to step up their co-operation in order to further optimise their services to users and the public.

The EPO has welcomed the decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) dismissing the legal challenges to the unitary patent package.

The user consultation will run until 30 June 2015

At a round table meeting jointly initiated by the Chairman of the Administrative Council, Jesper Kongstad, and EPO President Benoît Battistelli, the SUEPO and FFPE entered into a process which could eventually lead to their formal recognition as trade unions at the Office for the first time in EPO history.

With this prestigious annual award, the EPO honours scientists and engineers in five categories whose inventions have been patented by the EPO and have contributed to technological progress, social development and economic growth. The 10th edition of the award will be held in Paris on 11 June.

The announcement in Cape Town this week follows the launch of the first Global Dossier service with data from the EPO and SIPO in June 2014.

In preparing its statement, ESAB took into account the report of a workshop held in Munich on 25 November 2014.

The Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation held its 143rd meeting on 25 and 26 March 2015 with Jesper Kongstad, Director General of the Danish Patent Office, in the chair.

The Administrative Council acknowledges the results achieved by the Office and its staff which represent the outcomes of the Efficiency and Quality strategy adopted in 2011.

The UK's Minister for Intellectual Property, Baroness Lucy Neville-Rolfe and EPO President Benoît Battistelli met on 18 March 2015 at the EPO headquarters in Munich to discuss recent developments in the patent system in Europe and globally...

On behalf of a large majority of staff who are proud to work at the EPO and on our own behalf as senior managers with a recognised democratic background at national and international levels, we, the members of EPO's management committee, are profoundly shocked by such an accusation.

There was no consensus amongst ESAB members regarding the desirability of the introduction of a grace period in Europe. However, they did agree that Europe should consider introducing a grace period only if two vital conditions are met.

A forum titled “Focus Morocco marked the entry into force of an agreement allowing European patents to be validated in Morocco.

Morocco becomes 41st country for which patent protection can be obtained on the basis of a European patent application

Patent filings at the EPO grew by 3.1% in 2014, hitting a new record high of over 274 000 (2013: 266 000). Among the EPO member states, the Netherlands, France and the UK showed significant growth, some countries like Germany and Sweden remained stable, while filings from countries such as Finland, Switzerland and Spain declined.

Last week-end was marked by yet another tragic event in Europe as Denmark has been the victim of terrorist attacks in the centre of Copenhagen.

A win-win agreement: Morocco is the first non-member country of the European Patent Organisation to validate the legal effects of a European patent on its territory.

The European Patent Office (EPO) received more than 273 110 patent filings in 2014, an increase of around 3% over 2013, and a new all-time high.

As a European institution, the EPO wishes to affirm its unreserved solidarity with the democracies of Europe and the world in the face of this appalling act of violence.