The European Patent Office (EPO) is an organ of the European Patent Organisation, an intergovernmental organisation that was set up on 7 October 1977 on the basis of the European Patent Convention (EPC) signed in Munich in 1973. The EPO is responsible for the uniform procedure to grant European patents. Once the EPO has granted a European patent, the patent holder can validate it in every single contracting state. In the future, the EPO will also be in charge of deciding on requests for unitary effect of European patents under the Unitary Patent system.
The European Patent Office received 193 460 applications last year, an increase of 2.5% compared to 2021 and a new record. Digital communication (+11.2% over 2021) was the field with the highest number of patent applications, followed closely by medical technology (+1.0%) and computer technology (+1.8%). These are some numbers from the EPO’s Patent Index 2022, which was published today. The…
This year’s release of Visser’s Annotated European Patent Convention, or as it is commonly known, simply “Visser” is just around the corner. Since the previous edition, updated until March 2022, there have been several law changes, as well as new case law and updates in the Guidelines. Those changes are reflected in the update, and…
The Central Staff Committee of the European Patent Office supports the initiative of important European companies who’ve requested to do something about declining patent quality at the EPO. In a publication, the committee wrote it ‘is ready to contribute actively and constructively (…) respond to external criticism and put quality back on the EPO’s agenda’….
The industry has serious concerns about the deteriorating patent quality at the European Patent Office. The issue was discussed earlier this month between the EPO and the Industry Patent Quality Charter, an group representing major international corporations, law firms and patent offices. After their meeting, Beat Weibel, chief IP counsel, group senior vice-president at Siemens…
The EPO has opened its public user consultation on the latest version of the EPC and PCT-EPO Guidelines, which will come into force on 1 March 2023. Users are invited to submit their comments in any of the EPO’s three official languages via an online form by 4 April 2023. The Guidelines for Examination in…
An outburst of anger of a president and his re-election, social tensions, industrial actions: for anyone familiar with the world of patents it will be clear that all this refers to the European Patent Office, which drew a lot of attention on the Kluwer Patent Blog last year, even more than the biggest change in…
Christmas is a season for rest, family gatherings, warm wishes, hopes and good cheer. These days, children and adults alike may be preparing their wish list for Father Christmas. One of the gifts that patent aficionados are expecting with excitement for 2023 is a clear answer to the questions referred to the EPO Enlarged Board…
The EPO has made forms available to request transitional measures for European patents with a view to the entry into force of the Unitary Patent system. The forms relate to requests for unitary effect, as well as to requests for delay in issuing the decision to grant a European patent, so as to benefit from…
Video conferences will become the default format of oral opposition proceedings in at the European Patent Office as of 2023. Only under certain circumstances, and when the opposition division permits it, will oral proceedings in opposition be conducted in person. A decision to that effect was announced yesterday, a week after the publication of the final…
The preparations for the start of the Unitary Patent and the Unified Patent Court have gained momentum. In the upcoming week a high-profile conference on the UP system will be held in Brussels and a mock UPC trial in Paris. The conference, jointly organised by the Belgian government, the EPO and the European Commission, will…
