2017

With effect from 6 January 2018, the EPO will be extending its PPH pilot programmes with four partners around the globe, namely Canada, Israel, Mexico and Singapore, thus enabling innovators from Europe and these countries to continue obtaining patents more quickly and efficiently.

On 18 December 2017, the Enlarged Board of Appeal issued a decision on the referral G 1/16.

The Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation held its 154th meeting in Munich on 13 and 14 December 2017 under the chairmanship of Christoph ERNST (DE).

The new building for the Boards of Appeal Unit of the EPO in Haar, Munich, was officially inaugurated yesterday.

The EPO and the French National Industrial Property Office (INPI) have signed a new three-year bilateral co-operation plan. The agreement, which provides a framework for collaboration in areas such as IT projects and training, was signed by EPO President Benoît Battistelli and INPI Director General Romain Soubeyran in Munich today.

The certificate was presented to EPO President Benoît Battistelli by Frank Graichen, Managing Director of the external certification authority DQS, at a ceremony at the EPO headquarters in Munich. The ceremony was attended by the Chairman and the members of the Administrative Council, in their role as representatives of the EPO's member states.

Conducted by the EPO in co-operation with Handelsblatt Research Institute, the "Patents and the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)" study examines this profound technology trend that is now being observed across a whole range of technical fields.

The Centre for International Intellectual Property Studies (CEIPI) has elected EPO President Benoît Battistelli as Chair of its Administrative Council.

Two major agreements signed by the EPO with Brazil and Tunisia will enter into force today.

The European Patent Office (EPO) and the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) held today a joint conference in Brussels to illustrate the way in which the two offices co-operate to support innovation in the plant sector.

The IP5 Statistics Report, published jointly by the EPO, the Japan Patent Office, the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China, and the United States Patent and Trademark Office, collectively known as the IP5 offices, presents official patent statistics from each office.

The EPO contributed to the event with a lecture by Director for ICT Georg Weber on "Industry 4.0 - the technology landscape of tomorrow".

The EPO and China's State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) have renewed their co-operation by signing a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement at their annual heads of office meeting today in Zhengzhou.

This year's meeting of the US Bar-EPO Liaison Council, a forum to facilitate informal exchanges with US applicants, took place at the EPO's Munich headquarters on 15 November.

This week the EPO co-hosted the IPO-EPO Day with the Intellectual Property Owners (IPO) Educational Foundation. The conference was organised in Europe for their members, including both US and European companies.

A study published today, 14 November 2017, by the EPO finds that the Unitary Patent could significantly enhance technology transfer in the EU through more trade and foreign direct investment (FDI). Improved harmonisation of Europe's patent system has the potential to increase trade and FDI in high-tech sectors by up to 2% and 15% in the EU, leading to annual gains of EUR 14.6 billion in trade and EUR 1.8 billion in FDI.

New opportunities for patent information offered by technology trends were the focus of the 27th Patent Information Conference that took place this week in Sofia, Bulgaria. In the presence of the Bulgarian Deputy Minister for the Economy, Lachezar Borosov, EPO Vice-President Raimund Lutz outlined in his opening speech the key role of patent information services in the promotion of innovation.

The Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation held its 153rd meeting in Munich on 10 and 11 October 2017 under the chairmanship of Christoph ERNST (DE).

The Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation has elected António Campinos to succeed Benoît Battistelli as President of the European Patent Office (EPO). His five-year term will start on 1 July 2018.

EPO signs PPH agreement with Brazil in Geneva last week and secures date for entry into force of new Validation Agreement with Tunisia.

The EPO and Brazil have agreed to launch a joint Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot programme to enable work-sharing and accelerate patent prosecution at both offices, with the aim of improving the global IP system, supporting applicants and encouraging innovation.

Inventors and businesses applying for patent protection at the EPO and the Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO) are now able to benefit from fast-track patent examination at both offices, following the entry into force of the joint Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot programme.

The President of the European Patent Office, Benoît Battistelli, and the Director-General of Tunisia's National Standardisation and Industrial Property Institute (INNORPI), Amel Ben Farhat, announced today that starting 1 December European patents can be validated in Tunisia and thus regarded as national Tunisian ones.

The move from the EPO's Isar headquarters to a separate building is part of a comprehensive set of reforms adopted by the organisation's Administrative Council in June 2016 to strengthen the perception of independence and efficiency of the Boards.

Some 100 experts from industry, government, international organisations, universities and research institutes, and technology transfer centres met in Athens last week to discuss some of the challenges and recent successes in developing and deploying new technologies to mitigate climate change.

The publication aims to raise awareness among SMEs of the importance of patents, and to help them use the experiences and good practices of the companies described in the case studies to support their own development and growth.

The Management and staff of the European Patent Office are deeply shocked and saddened by news of the horrific attack which took place in Barcelona on Thursday, 17 August 2017.

The EPO has published its Social Report 2016, which provides a comprehensive overview of staff and working conditions at the Office.

The Administrative Council of the EPO has extended the portfolio of activities of Vice-President Alberto Casado Cerviño. He will head the new Directorate-General Patent Granting Process at the EPO, which results from an internal reorganisation.

In accordance with the rights guaranteed to EPO staff, a small proportion of the EPO's workforce observed their right to strike on Friday 30 June and Monday 3 July. A low rate of participation by staff was registered.

Users voice strong support for the Unitary Patent package at conference in Munich

A comprehensive report outlining a detailed set of quality indicators, it aims to increase transparency on the effects of that policy, while also serving as an additional instrument for the EPO to systematically monitor and improve its measures relating to quality assurance.

On 1 July the EPO launched Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot programmes with the patent offices of Malaysia and the Philippines to enable work-sharing and accelerated treatment of patent applications.

In co-operation with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the EPO has today published a new policy brief on the latest trends in climate change mitigation technologies (CCMTs).

On a proposal of the European Patent Office its Administrative Council took a decision to amend the relevant Regulations in order to exclude from patentability plants and animals exclusively obtained by an essentially biological breeding process.

A special ceremony was attended by EPO President Benoît Battistelli, Michel Bezuijen, the Mayor of Rijswijk, architects Jean Nouvel and Diederik Dam, and Ton Vaags, Chairman of the Board of the construction consortium consisting of TBI subsidiary companies J.P. van Eesteren and Croonwolter&dros, as well as construction workers.

Launched by the European Patent Office (EPO) in 2006, the annual award distinguishes individual inventors and teams of inventors whose pioneering inventions provide answers to some of the biggest challenges of our times.

The annual benchmarking survey, published last week, shows that the EPO is rated top among the world's five largest patent offices (IP5) for patent quality and service by the 800 patent professionals surveyed.

The Management and staff of the European Patent Office have been deeply shocked by news of the horrific attack that took place in the London Bridge and Borough Market area of London on Saturday evening.

In the first ten years of its existence, IP5 co-operation has delivered a number of products and services that particularly support innovating businesses which have a global market orientation.

The EPO and SIPO of China have co-operated since 1985 and have had a privileged strategic co-operation partnership for the last 10 years.

The Management and staff of the European Patent Office are deeply shocked by the terrible news of the attack that took place after a pop concert in Manchester yesterday.

President Battistelli and Director General Camati agreed in principle on the future launch of a comprehensive co-operation programme including the validation of EP patents in Angola and EPO technical assistance for the development of the national patent system.

The EPO and the National Institute of Industrial Property of Argentina (INPI) have signed a memorandum of understanding on bilateral co-operation.

The EPO and the Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO) have agreed to launch a joint Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot programme to enable work-sharing and accelerated treatment of patent applications at both offices.

The Ambassador of the Principality of Monaco to the Federal Republic of Germany, H.E. Isabelle Berro-Amadeï, paid an official visit to the EPO on 25 April for the formal hand-over of the instruments of ratification by Monaco of the Bilateral Working Agreement on Searches.

The nominated inventors fight disease, take on some of the most pressing environmental issues and enrich our daily lives.

The management and staff of the EPO are deeply shocked and saddened by the horrific attack which took place in Stockholm on Friday 7 April.

Today marks the launch of the new EPO Academic Research Programme offering financial support for academic research on patent-related matters. The programme will award grants of up to EUR 100 000 to winning proposals.

CPVO and EPO experts continued their exchange on working practices on issues such as the use of databases and other working tools, quality policy, as well as measures to ensure clarity and transparency in this important technical field.

The 35th annual Trilateral conference was preceded by a meeting between the offices and industry associations from the three regions to collect feedback from users of the patent system.

The management and staff of the EPO are deeply shocked and saddened by the horrendous incident that occurred in London on 22 March.

EPO President Benoît Battistelli has signed bilateral co-operation plans with the heads of the patent offices of Latvia and Lithuania.

EPO President Benoît Battistelli met the UK Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation Jo Johnson in London on 8 March to discuss recent developments in patents and their role in supporting innovation.

Due to effective measures to improve its productivity, the European Patent Office (EPO) published 96 000 granted patents in 2016, which is 40% more than in 2015 and a new high mark in its history.

Carl Josefsson has commenced his role as the new President of the EPO Boards of Appeal (BoA).

The automated mail-box at the EPO’s headquarters in Munich (Isar building, Kohlstrasse) is being closed as from 1 April 2017.

The EPO and Russia's Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent) have launched their joint Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot programme to enable work-sharing and accelerated treatment of patent applications in both regions.

In its order for decision G1/15, related to the question of partial priorities and so-called toxic divisionals, the Enlarged Board of the EPO held that a generic claim encompassing alternative subject matter may not be refused partial priority, provided the alternative subject matter has been directly, at least implicitly, and unambiguously disclosed in the priority document.

New sub-committee on quality of EPO’s SACEPO advisory body meets for the first time in Munich

EPO President Benoît Battistelli and Senior Minister Cham Prasidh, Cambodian Minister of Industry and Handicraft, have signed an agreement in Phnom Penh to extend, upon request of the applicant, the validity of European patent applications and patents to Cambodia...

We welcome this decision by which the Court considers the Dutch courts as not competent to deal with this case, in application of the principle of immunity which is essential for the independence and functioning of any international organisation.