European Patent Organisation

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The European Patent Organisation (sometimes abbreviated EPOrg [1] in order to distinguish it from the European Patent Office, one of the two organs of the organisation [2] ) is a public international organisation created in 1977 by its contracting states to grant patents in Europe under the European Patent Convention (EPC) of 1973. [3] [4] [5] The European Patent Organisation has its seat at Munich, Germany, [6] and has administrative and financial autonomy. [5] The organisation is independent from the European Union, and has as member states all 27 EU member states along with 12 other European states. [7]

Contents

The evolution of the Organisation is inherently linked to that of the European Patent Convention. See European Patent Convention (EPC) for the history of the European patent system as set up by the EPC, operated by the European Patent Office (EPO), and supervised by the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation.

Organs

European Patent Office headquarters in Munich Europaisches Patentamt in Munchen.jpg
European Patent Office headquarters in Munich

The European Patent Organisation has two organs: [8] the European Patent Office, which acts as its executive body, [4] [3] and the Administrative Council, which acts as its supervisory body [4] as well as, to a limited extent, its legislative body. [9] [3] The actual legislative power to revise the European Patent Convention lies with the Contracting States themselves when meeting at a Conference of the Contracting States. [10]

Besides, the Boards of Appeal, which do not form an independent organ of the Organisation but are integrated within the European Patent Office, are assigned the role of an independent judiciary. [11] The European Patent Organisation is in that sense an international organisation "modelled on a modern state order and based on the separation of powers principle". [11]

European Patent Office

The European Patent Office (EPO [notes 1] ) examines European patent applications and grants European patents under the European Patent Convention. Its headquarters are located at Munich, Germany, with a branch in Rijswijk (near The Hague, Netherlands), sub-offices in Berlin, Germany, and Vienna, Austria, and a "liaison bureau" in Brussels, Belgium.

Administrative Council

The Administrative Council is made up of Representatives and alternate Representatives of the Contracting States [12] and is responsible for overseeing the work of the European Patent Office, [4] ratifying the budget and approving the actions of the President of the Office. [3] The council also amends the Rules of the EPC and some particular provisions of the Articles of the European Patent Convention. [9]

As of 2019, the Chairman of the Administrative Council is Josef Kratochvíl. [13] [14] [15]

The European Patent Organisation has legal personality, [16] and is represented by the President of the European Patent Office. [17]

Member states, extension state, and validation states

There are, as of October 2022, 39 Contracting States to the EPC, also called member states of the European Patent Organisation: [18] Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom (see European Patent Convention article for the dates of entry in force in each country). That is, all EU member states are also members of the European Patent Organisation, and, additionally, Albania, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, San Marino, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom are also members of the European Patent Organisation. The most recent member state to join the EPC was Montenegro which did so on 1 October 2022. [19]

In addition, there is one "extension state", Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is not a Contracting State to the EPC but has signed an extension agreement under which the protection conferred by European patent applications and patents is extended to the relevant country. [20] [18] Slovenia, Romania, Lithuania, Latvia, Croatia, North Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, and Montenegro were all extension states prior to joining the EPC.

Furthermore, there are so-called "validation states", which are not Contracting States to the EPC but have signed validation agreements that act similarly to the extension agreements to extend the protection of European patent applications and European patents. Morocco, Moldova, Tunisia, Cambodia, and Georgia became validation states on 1 March 2015, 1 November 2015, 1 December 2017, 1 March 2018, and 15 January 2024, respectively. [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The abbreviation "EPOff" has been also used to refer to the European Patent Office, in order to distinguish it from the European Patent Organisation, see European Patent Office web site, European Patent Convention (EPC), Alphabetical keyword index. Consulted on 17 November 2007.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unitary patent</span> Potential EU patent law

The European patent with unitary effect, also known as the unitary patent, is a European patent which benefits from unitary effect in the 17 participating member states of the European Union. Unitary effect may be requested by the proprietor within one month of grant of a European patent, replacing validation of the European patent in the individual countries concerned. Infringement and revocation proceedings are conducted before the Unified Patent Court (UPC), which decisions have a uniform effect for the unitary patent in the participating member states as a whole rather than in each country individually. The unitary patent may be only limited, transferred or revoked, or lapse, in respect of all the participating Member States. Licensing is however possible for part of the unitary territory. The unitary patent may coexist with nationally enforceable patents in the non-participating states. The unitary patent's stated aims are to make access to the patent system "easier, less costly and legally secure within the European Union" and "the creation of uniform patent protection throughout the Union".

The patentability of software, computer programs and computer-implemented inventions under the European Patent Convention (EPC) is the extent to which subject matter in these fields is patentable under the Convention on the Grant of European Patents of October 5, 1973. The subject also includes the question of whether European patents granted by the European Patent Office (EPO) in these fields (sometimes called "software patents") are regarded as valid by national courts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Patent Office</span> One of the two organs of the European Patent Organisation

The European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the two organs of the European Patent Organisation (EPOrg), the other being the Administrative Council. The EPO acts as executive body for the organisation while the Administrative Council acts as its supervisory body as well as, to a limited extent, its legislative body. The actual legislative power to revise the European Patent Convention lies with the Contracting States themselves when meeting at a Conference of the Contracting States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Patent Convention</span> International patent treaty

The European Patent Convention (EPC), also known as the Convention on the Grant of European Patents of 5 October 1973, is a multilateral treaty instituting the European Patent Organisation and providing an autonomous legal system according to which European patents are granted. The term European patent is used to refer to patents granted under the European Patent Convention. However, a European patent is not a unitary right, but a group of essentially independent nationally enforceable, nationally revocable patents, subject to central revocation or narrowing as a group pursuant to two types of unified, post-grant procedures: a time-limited opposition procedure, which can be initiated by any person except the patent proprietor, and limitation and revocation procedures, which can be initiated by the patent proprietor only.

The EPC 2000 or European Patent Convention 2000 is the version of the European Patent Convention (EPC) as revised by the Act Revising the Convention on the Grant of European Patents signed in Munich on November 29, 2000. On June 28, 2001, the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation adopted the final new text of the EPC 2000. The EPC 2000 entered into force on December 13, 2007.

The European Patent Convention (EPC), the multilateral treaty instituting the legal system according to which European patents are granted, contains provisions allowing a party to appeal a decision issued by a first instance department of the European Patent Office (EPO). For instance, a decision of an Examining Division refusing to grant a European patent application may be appealed by the applicant. The appeal procedure before the European Patent Office is under the responsibility of its Boards of Appeal, which are institutionally independent within the EPO.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurasian Patent Organization</span>

The Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO) is an international organization set up in 1995 by the Eurasian Patent Convention (EAPC) to grant Eurasian patents. The official language of the EAPO is Russian and its current president is Saule Tlevlessova. The headquarters of the EAPO is in Moscow, Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Agreement (2000)</span>

The London Agreement, formally the Agreement on the application of Article 65 of the Convention on the Grant of European Patents and sometimes referred to as the London Protocol, is a patent law agreement concluded in London on 17 October 2000 and aimed at reducing the translation costs of European patents granted under the European Patent Convention (EPC). The London Agreement is an agreement between some member states of the European Patent Organisation, and has not altered other language requirements applying to European patent applications prior to grant.

The draft European Patent Litigation Agreement (EPLA), or formally the Draft Agreement on the establishment of a European patent litigation system, was a proposed patent law agreement aimed at creating an "optional protocol to the European Patent Convention (EPC) which would commit its signatory states to an integrated judicial system, including uniform rules of procedure and a common appeal court". It differed from the Unified Patent Court Agreement in that the EPLA negotiations were coordinated from the side of the European Patent Office, rather than from the European Council and Commission and therefore also offered the possibility for non-EU states to participate.

European patent law covers a range of legislations including national patent laws, the Strasbourg Convention of 1963, the European Patent Convention of 1973, and a number of European Union directives and regulations. For some states in Eastern Europe, the Eurasian Patent Convention applies.

The Institute of Professional Representatives before the European Patent Office, also known as European Patent Institute (epi), is a professional association of European patent attorneys and an international non-governmental public law corporation. It was founded on 21 October 1977 by the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation by adopting the Regulation on the establishment of an institute of professional representatives before the European Patent Office. All European patent attorneys, i.e. all persons entitled to act as professional representatives before the EPO, are members of the institute. As of 2023, the institute has about 13,800 members across 39 member states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grant procedure before the European Patent Office</span>

The grant procedure before the European Patent Office (EPO) is an ex parte, administrative procedure, which includes the filing of a European patent application, the examination of formalities, the establishment of a search report, the publication of the application, its substantive examination, and the grant of a patent, or the refusal of the application, in accordance with the legal provisions of the European Patent Convention (EPC). The grant procedure is carried out by the EPO under the supervision of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation. The patents granted in accordance with the EPC are called European patents.

The Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation is one of the two organs of the European Patent Organisation (EPOrg), the other being the European Patent Office (EPO). The Administrative Council acts as the Organisation's supervisory body as well as, to a limited extent, its legislative body. The actual legislative power to revise the European Patent Convention (EPC) lies with the Contracting States themselves when meeting at a Conference of the Contracting States. In contrast, the EPO acts as executive body of the Organisation.

European patents are granted by the European Patent Office (EPO) under the legal provisions of the European Patent Convention (EPC). However, European patents are enforced at a national level, i.e. on a per-country basis, or, since June 1, 2023, before the Unified Patent Court (UPC). Under Article 64(3) EPC, "any infringement of a European patent shall be dealt with by national law," with the European Patent Office having no legal competence to deal with and to decide on patent infringements in the Contracting States to the EPC. A few, limited aspects relating to the infringement of European patents are however prescribed in the EPC.

During the grant procedure before the European Patent Office (EPO), divisional applications can be filed under Article 76 EPC out of pending earlier European patent applications. A divisional application, sometimes called European divisional application, is a new patent application which is separate and independent from the earlier application, unless specific provisions in the European Patent Convention (EPC) require something different. A divisional application, which is divided from an earlier application, cannot be broader than the earlier application, neither in terms of subject-matter nor in terms of geographical cover.

The fees due at the European Patent Office (EPO) in relation to a European patent application are laid out in the Rules relating to Fees of 20 October 1977, as adopted by decision of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation of 7 December 2006 and as last amended by decision of the Administrative Council of 12 December 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unified Patent Court</span> Patent court in the European Union

The Unified Patent Court (UPC) is a common patent court of 17 countries of the European Union, which opened on 1 June 2023.

The unitary patent for Switzerland and Liechtenstein is a patent having a unitary character over the territories of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It can either be a national patent, or a European patent granted under the European Patent Convention (EPC) and having a unitary character pursuant to Article 142(1) EPC. The unitary patent "may only be granted, transferred, annulled or lapse in respect of the whole territory of protection," i.e. for both Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

Art. 23 1/15, Art. 23 2/15 and Art. 23 1/16 are three related cases decided by the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office concerning the removal from office of Patrick Corcoran, a member of the Boards of Appeal, who had been previously suspended by the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation. According to Article 23(1) EPC, members of the Boards of Appeal may only be removed from office by the Administrative Council on a proposal from the Enlarged Board of Appeal. Two cases were successively initiated by the Administrative Council, but the Enlarged Board eventually dismissed both of them. In the third case initiated by the Administrative Council, the Enlarged Board decided not to propose the removal from office of Corcoran.

Josef Kratochvíl is a Czech civil servant and current President of the Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic. On 12 December 2018 he was elected Chairman of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation, a position he took over on 1 January 2019 for a three-year term.

References

  1. ↑ "The European Patent Convention - Alphabetical keyword index". www.epo.org. European Patent Office. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  2. ↑ Article 4(2)(a) EPC
  3. 1 2 3 4 Gower's Report on Intellectual Property Archived 19 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine , para 1.34
  4. 1 2 3 4 Article 4(3) EPC
  5. 1 2 Article 4(1) EPC
  6. ↑ Article 6(1) EPC
  7. ↑ R 0001/10 (Offensichtlich unzulässiger Überprüfungsantrag/Ahrweiler) , Reasons 2(Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office22 February 2011)("Grund dafür ist, dass das EPÜ nicht Bestandteil der EU-Gesetzgebung ist, sondern mit der europäischen Patentorganisation ein seinem Wesen nach von der Europäischen Union unabhängiges, eigenständiges völkerrechtliches Subjekt begründet, dem zwar allen EU-Mitgliedstaaten, jedoch auch Nicht-EU-Staaten angehören.").
  8. ↑ Article 4(2) EPC
  9. 1 2 Article 33 EPC
  10. ↑ Article 172 EPC
  11. 1 2 Opinion G 3/08 of 12 May 2010, Reasons 7.2.1.
  12. ↑ Article 26(1) EPC
  13. ↑ "Josef Kratochvíl elected Chairman of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation". epo.org. European Patent Office. 12 December 2018. Archived from the original on 1 May 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  14. ↑ Klos, Mathieu (13 December 2018). "Administrative Council announces new chairman". Juve Patent. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  15. ↑ "Report on the 157th and 158th meetings of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation (10 and 11 October 2018 and 12 and 13 December 2018 respectively)". Official Journal of the European Patent Office. European Patent Office (January 2019): A1. 31 January 2019. ...the Council unanimously elected Josef KRATOCHVÍL (CZ) as its Chairman for a term of 3 years, starting on 1 January 2019.
  16. ↑ Article 5(1) EPC
  17. ↑ Article 5(3) EPC
  18. 1 2 EPO member states, retrieved on 25 July 2020
  19. ↑ "Montenegro becomes 39th Contracting State". www.epo.org. European Patent Office. 1 October 2022. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  20. ↑ EPO Journal 2004, 619
  21. ↑ "Morocco recognises European patents as national patents". European Patent Office. 19 January 2015. Archived from the original on 22 January 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  22. ↑ "Validation agreement with Morocco enters into force". EPO. 1 March 2015. Archived from the original on 5 March 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  23. ↑ "European patents to cover Moldova". European Patent Office. 8 October 2015. Archived from the original on 11 October 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  24. ↑ "European patents in Tunisia: Validation agreement between EPO and Tunisia to enter into force on 1 December". European Patent Office. 4 October 2017. Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  25. ↑ "Validation of European patents in Cambodia (KH) with effect from 1 March 2018". European Patent Office. 9 February 2018. Archived from the original on 11 February 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  26. ↑ "Validation states". European Patent Office. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  27. ↑ "OJ EPO 2023, A105 – Validation of European patents in Georgia (GE) with effect from 15 January 2024". www.epo.org. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
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