Background information

European Patent Office

The European Patent Office (EPO) was set up by the European Patent Convention of 1973. It applies a single, uniform procedure to patent filings in any of its three official languages (English, French and German), and thus enables independent inventors, companies and researchers - from Europe and all over the world - to protect their inventions in a market of some 700 million people.

Q&A on patents and coronavirus

What are patents and why do we need them? And how does the patent system encourage the innovation now urgently needed in diagnostics, detection, vaccines and treatments?