A new version of the European Patent Register was released in May 2023. Various changes have been made, including the addition of Unitary Patent (UP)-related features.
Please note that even if UP-related
features are now available in the European Patent Register, they will not be fully
operational until 1 June 2023, when the UP system starts.
1. UP Register help files
Register Help now includes content related to the new Unitary Patent Register. It explains the information that will be provided there. See Fig. 1.
We invite you to read the help files before the new UP system starts, to familiarise yourself with it.
Fig. 1: Unitary Patent Register help (click to enlarge)
2. Advanced search interface
a) The Advanced search interface now has two new search fields (see Fig. 2):
- Unitary effect request date
- Unitary effect registration date
Searching in these fields will only produce results as of 8 June 2023.
Fig. 2: Unitary effect search fields in the Advanced search
interface (click to enlarge)
b) The tooltips for the search fields Applicant(s)/Proprietor(s) and Representative have been updated for the UP (see Fig. 3). These fields will produce results for Unitary Patents as of 1 June 2023.
Fig. 3: Tooltip for the Applicant(s)/Proprietor(s) search
field
(click to enlarge)
3. European procedure panel views
All the European procedure panel views are now identified by the prefix EP (see Fig. 4).
Fig. 4: European procedure panel views (click to enlarge)
4. Register Alert
Register Alert now has a new profile under Preferences - Monitoring Profiles called Unitary Patent events. It will automatically inform you of UP events for monitored applications and be operational once the UP system comes into force (see Fig. 5). The other profiles will also cover UP events from this date.
Fig. 5: Unitary Patent events profile in Register Alert (click to enlarge)
5. Unitary Patent events
The Register Events page now lists the possible UP events once the UP system comes into force, under the All events tab (see Fig. 6).
Fig. 6: Unitary Patent events (click to enlarge)
These events are now also included in the XML files downloadable from the same page (see Fig. 7).
Fig. 7: Unitary Patent events in XML (click to enlarge)
From 1 November 2022, you can view and download sequence listings filed in ST.25 txt format from the All documents view of the Register. This will make it easier to search, process and disseminate sequence listings.
When available, these files are identified as Sequence listing in the All documents view, and a dash is indicated instead of a number in the Number of pages column.
Fig. 1 Example of a dash instead of a number in the Number of pages column (click to enlarge)
You can download ST.25 sequence listings from the Register via Selected documents or Zip Archive. In both cases, the sequence listing will be downloaded in a zipped file to the local file system.
If you select and download other documents in addition to the sequence listing, the other documents will be downloaded together in a single PDF file when you use Selected documents or individually as a collection of PDF files when you use Zip Archive. See the examples below.
Fig. 3 When you download using Zip Archive, documents other than the sequence listing are downloaded individually as a collection of PDF files (click to enlarge)
On 1 October 2022 Montenegro (ME) will quit being an extension state and become a contracting state.
This new development will result in various changes in a number of panel views in the European Patent Register.
If an application was filed in Montenegrin (CNR), this will now be displayed in the Filing language section (see Fig. 1), and Montenegro (ME) will appear in the Designated contracting states section (see Fig. 2).
Figure 1. About this file: Montenegrin as filing language
Figure 2. About this file: Montenegro as a designated contracting state
If designated, Montenegro (ME) will appear in the Designated contracting states section (see Fig. 3).
Figure 3. Legal status: Montenegro as a designated contracting state
If designated, Montenegro (ME) will appear in the Designated contracting states list in the National patent registers section under Federated register (see Fig. 4).
Figure 4. Federated register: Montenegro as a designated contracting state
From 1 July 2022, you
will be able to view sequence listings filed in ST.26 XML format and download them
as a ZIP file (Sequence listing in ST.26 (.XML)) in the European Patent Register's
All documents view (see examples in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2).
Fig. 1 All documents:
Sequence listing in ST.26 (click to enlarge)
Fig. 2 View of ST.26 XML sequence listing (click to enlarge)
For more information, please refer to the Help files.
Improvements in the European Patent Register
Improvements in the European Patent Register
A single Register Alert account now allows you to monitor up to 5 000 files (previously only 1 000).
We have placed a page limit on downloads via the All documents view (file inspection). This is to avoid performance and out-of-memory issues caused by the high number of download requests.
A restriction on the number of pages that can be downloaded is set to a maximum of 2 000 pages per download (Zip Archive or Selected documents).
Please note that if you use Zip Archive to download, the complete file will be downloaded, and not just the individual documents selected.
Patent documents, European patent applications (A documents) and specifications of granted European patents (B documents), containing more than 2 000 pages (including sequence listings) can be downloaded from the Publication Server.
Global Dossier - individual and patent family member RSS feeds now available for patent monitoring
For some years now RSS feeds have been available for monitoring changes in EP dossiers, in the "All documents" section of the European Patent Register. Hovering over the RSS icon turns it red and clicking on it subscribes to the RSS feeds, allowing you to receive alerts on changes to the file (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1 RSS feed - EP dossier
With the new European Patent Register release, the RSS feeds have been extended to Chinese dossiers of an INPADOC family member of an EP document. The RSS feed icon is located on the Global Dossier page of the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China (SIPO) (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2 SIPO Global Dossier RSS feed
For a given European patent application you can access, within the Patent family section of the European Patent Register, its INPADOC patent family members and, for the participating countries, their dossiers via the Global Dossier link (see the help files for Global Dossier coverage).
RSS feeds are now available for patent family dossiers of an EP document, allowing you to receive alerts on dossier changes for EP and CN family members. Clicking on the RSS family dossiers icon turns it red and subscribes you in one move to changes in EP and CN dossiers, e.g. when new dossiers are added to any of the files (Fig. 3).
Fig. 3 RSS feed - family dossiers
In the future, the individual and family-based RSS alerts will be extended to the rest of the EP INPADOC family members of the patent offices participating in Global Dossier.
European Patent Register new features/improvements
The Global Dossier service has now been extended to encompass further authorities participating in the WIPO CASE initiative.
In addition to patent application dossiers ("file wrappers") from the world's five largest patent offices, it now also includes public dossiers from the Canadian Patent Office as well as PCT applications.
In addition to the active status of an application, the European Patent Register now displays the status history of an application in the About this file panel view if you click the "Show history" button.
The "Status updated" date is the date when the status was last changed.
The status history is also provided as part of the XML data retrieved using the ST36 download functionality.
Within the framework of the "Programme for accelerated prosecution of European patent applications" (PACE), the date on which responsibility for an application passes to the examining division will be now notified via the European Patent Register for the sake of transparency and to help users requesting accelerated examination.[1] Accelerated examination can, in principle, be requested at any time once responsibility for the application has passed to the examining division.
Information on the date on which responsibility passed to the examining division is now displayed in the "EP About this file" panel view - in the "Examination procedure" section - and in the "EP Event history" panel view of the European Patent Register.
EP About this file
EP Event history
Here the following events can be displayed:
[1]See Rule 10 EPC and Guidelines for Examination in the EPO, C-II, 1.
The Federated European Patent Register Service, available from within the European Patent Register, collects data from the designated contracting states "on the fly" and assembles it in a single display.
This display shows a minimum set of bibliographic and legal status data for European patents in the post-grant or "national" phase as retrieved by the EPO from the national registers of the designated states concerned.
The service can be accessed by clicking on the "Federated Register" link in the left-hand panel when viewing the patent document details.
The overview page is divided into three sections.
I. Details of your selected patent document are shown at the top of the overview. These include:
II. This part shows bibliographic and legal status information from the national registers of the designated states that support the Federated Register service. You can get quick and easy access to the corresponding record in the national register by clicking on the country codes (not available for all countries).
See the help files for more information on the data provided.
III. This section shows all the designated contracting and extension states, irrespective of whether or not they support the Federated Register service. Where available, deep linking is provided for access to further data and information. Once the validation agreements are in force, designated validation states will also be displayed in this section.
Please note that the EPO does not accept any responsibility for the accuracy or quality of the data displayed, including but not limited to their completeness or fitness for specific purposes. For authoritative information, please refer to the relevant national patent authority.
