1. 19/08/2015 The European Patent Office An introduction to the EPO and the European patent system Adapted and presented by: Branka Lakić, patent examiner Email: blakic@epo.org

2. Contents  Patents  About us  What we do  Quality  Facts and figures

3. What is a patent?  A patent is a legal title granting its holder the right to prevent third parties from commercially using an invention without authorisation.  In return for this protection, the holder has to disclose the invention to the public.  Protection is granted: –for a limited period, generally 20 years –for a specific geographic area

4. What is patentable?  To be patentable, an invention must: –have a technical character (e.g. comprise a product, process or apparatus) –be new –involve an inventive step –be industrially applicable  Some innovations are not patentable under the EPC: –for example, mathematical methods or formulae, computer programs and business methods are as such not regarded as inventions –new plant or animal varieties and inventions whose commercial exploitation would be contrary to "ordre public" or morality (e.g. the cloning of human life) are examples of inventions excluded from patentability

5. The benefits of patents For inventors, patents can  help safeguard financial returns from the commercial exploitation of the invention  give holders time to recoup their development costs  encourage further investment in R&D

6. Contents  Patents  About us  What we do  Quality  Facts and figures

7. The European Patent Convention  The European Patent Convention (EPC) –provides the legal framework for the granting of European patents via a centralised procedure –establishes the European Patent Organisation  1973– Diplomatic Conference in Munich ► signature of the EPC by 16 countries  1977 – Entry into force of the EPC in 7 countries - marked as follows

8. Structure of the European Patent Organisation The legislative body  made up of delegates from the member states  supervises the activities of the Office  has a specific legislative function European Patent Organisation Administrative Council European Patent Office The executive body  responsible for examining European patent applications

9. 35 member states Austria Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Malta Monaco Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey United Kingdom European patent applications and patents can also be extended at the applicant's request to the following states: Albania Bosnia-Herzegovina Serbia Status: January 2009

10. Autonomy  Not an EU institution  Self-financing, i.e. revenue from fees covers operating and capital expenditure

11. Locations The EPO has offices at five different locations. Its headquarters are in Munich.

12. Number of staff Munich3 629 The Hague2 659 Berlin276 Vienna117 Brussels4 Total6 685 Around 60% are patent examiners Status: December 2008

13. Staff from 32 different countries Status: December 2008 Country Number of staff ATAustria237 BEBelgium357 BGBulgaria30 CHSwitzerland69 CYCyprus8 CZCzech Republic20 ESSpain426 DEGermany1 807 DKDenmark74 EEEstonia6 FIFinland48 FRFrance1 190 GBUnited Kingdom514 GRGreece160 HUHungary25 IEIreland82 HRCroatia2 Country Number of staff ITItaly497 LILiechtenstein1 LTLithuania4 LULuxembourg73 LVLatvia4 MTMalta2 RORomania107 NLNetherlands618 PLPoland56 PTPortugal85 SESweden124 SISlovenia14 SKSlovakia15 TRTurkey26 Others3 Total6 685 ISIceland1

14. Contents  Patents  About us  What we do  Quality  Facts and figures

15. Our role in the European patent system  We provide patent protection in up to 38 European countries based on a single application in one of the three official languages (German, English, French) European patent applications can be filed: –direct with the EPO –via the national patent offices of the contracting states –based on an international (PCT) application  We are also responsible for –limitation and revocation proceedings by patentees –opposition proceedings by third parties –appeal proceedings before the Boards of Appeal

16. Our role in the international (PCT) system  We process international patent applications –we act as a receiving office for international applications (PCT) –we carry out international search and preliminary examination procedures

17. Other services  Free online services –filing –fee payment –file inspection –tracking of legal status of applications  Free patent information services –online access to all European patent documents (updated weekly) –simple online searches in our database of over 60 million patent applications –helpdesk staffed by experts on the Japanese, Chinese and Korean patent systems –http://ep.espacenet.com; http://hr.espacenet.comhttp://ep.espacenet.comhttp://hr.espacenet.com  Training –conferences –workshops and seminars –e-learning

18. European patent application Applicant Filing and formalities examination EPO Search and search report together with preliminary opinion on patentability Publication of application and search report Online access to application file and legal status information Observations by third parties possible Public domain Grant of European patent Publication of patent specification Validation in designated states Refusal or withdrawal of application Substantive examination Overview of European patent grant procedure (I)

19. Applicant EPO Limitation or revocation proceedings Substantive examination Grant of European patent Refusal of application Opposition proceedings Appeal proceedings Overview of European patent grant procedure (II) Opposition by third parties possible Public domain

20. Content of a patent application  Request for the grant of a European patent  Description of the invention  Claims  Drawings  Abstract.

21. Search report  Listing of the state of the art documents along with publication data (applicant, publication date)  A letter code (X, Y, A) identifying relation to the application  An indication of the most relevant parts of documents

22. How much a European patent costs  Fees for filing, search, designation of states, claims (if more than fifteen), examination, grant and printing  Average EUR 4 920 (or EUR 4 840 if the application was filed online) to take a patent application with seven or more designated states through to the grant stage.  Translation and maintenance fees

23. Contents  Patents  About us  What we do  Quality  Facts and figures

24. Highly skilled examiners  Top-level engineers and scientists –high degree of technical expertise –knowledge of the EPO's three official languages  Training during first two years –extensive legal and procedural training –individual coaching by experienced examiners

25. Contents  Patents  About us  What we do  Quality  Facts and figures

26. Comprehensive search documentation  World's largest collection of patent and non-patent literature documents, containing more than 400 million records in over 100 databases and updated daily  Online access to more than 6 000 journals via the EPO Virtual Library  New tools and services such as machine translation to extend the range of easily accessible information  Ongoing efforts to improve the scope and quality of our documentation

27. Rigorous controls and commitment to improvement  Up-to-date guidelines and instructions for examiners  Spot-checks on search reports and patent quality  Internal quality audits

28. Applications filed Direct European filings Euro-PCT applications entering the regional phase

29. European patents granted

30. Applications by residence of applicant (2008)

31. Technical fields with the most filings (2008) 63 736 Number of applications

32. Number of applications in 2008 High-growth technical fields (at least 500 applications filed in 2008) % growth in number of applications 2008 vs. 2007 1 074 522 655 532 737 2 365 735 502 2 109 539

33. Leading applicants and patentees in 2008 ApplicationsGranted European patents

34. Patent revoked Patent maintained in amended form Opposition rejected 39.8% 31.6% 28.6% Oppositions in 2008 Oppositions were filed against 5% of granted European patents. Over one third of all opposed patents were revoked. 5% Oppositions Granted patents

35. Need more information? www.epo.org info@epo.org Tel. + 49 (0)89 2399 - 4636