European Patent Office

European Patent Office

      executive branch of the European Patent Organisation, the international organization that issues European patents. The European Patent Organisation was created by the European Patent Convention, which was signed by 16 European countries in Munich on Oct. 5, 1973, and came into force on Oct. 7, 1977. The EPO is supervised by the Administrative Council, the legislative branch of the European Patent Organisation, and governed by a management committee headed by a president. The EPO accepted the first patent applications in June 1978 and granted the first patents two years later; by 2006 more than 1.2 million applications had been filed. It is headquartered in Munich and has offices in Berlin, The Hague, Vienna, and Brussels.

      The mission of the EPO is to encourage innovation worldwide, promote competitiveness, and support the economic growth of its member countries. In addition to conducting searches and examinations on European patent applications, the EPO examines opposition to granted patents, sets European patent-protection standards, and makes current patent information available to the public. The organization also has several boards of appeal that hear objections to the decisions made by its receiving, examining, opposition, and legal divisions. The EPO's publications include guides for applicants, newsletters, annual reports, and official periodicals.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • European Patent Office — The European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the two organs of the European Patent Organisation (EPOrg), the other being the Administrative Council. [EPC Article|4|2] The EPO acts as executive body for the OrganisationEPC Article|4|3]… …   Wikipedia

  • European Patent Office Reports — The European Patent Office Reports (EPOR) are a series of law reports, with decisions of the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office. The series has been published since 1979, [ Sweet Maxwell Ltd,… …   Wikipedia

  • Grant procedure before the European Patent Office — Graph of European patent applications filed and granted between 1998 and 2007. Note that the average time from filing to grant in 2007 was 43.7 months (3.6 years) The grant procedure before the European Patent Office (EPO) is an ex parte,… …   Wikipedia

  • Appeal procedure before the European Patent Office — Decisions of the first instances of the European Patent Office (EPO) can be appealed, i.e. challenged, before the Boards of Appeal of the EPO, in a judicial procedure (proper to an administrative court), as opposed to an administrative procedure …   Wikipedia

  • Opposition procedure before the European Patent Office — The opposition procedure before the European Patent Office (EPO) is a post grant, contentious, inter partes, administrative [1] procedure intended to allow any European patent to be centrally opposed. European patents granted by the EPO under the …   Wikipedia

  • Limitation and revocation procedures before the European Patent Office — In European patent law, the limitation and revocation procedures before the European Patent Office (EPO) are post grant, ex parte , OJ 2007, Special edition 4/2007, page 116, item 1. ] administrative [ EPO web site,… …   Wikipedia

  • Representation before the European Patent Office — The European Patent Convention (EPC), the multilateral treaty providing the legal system according to which European patents are granted, contains provisions regarding whether a natural or juristic person needs to be represented in proceedings… …   Wikipedia

  • Official Journal of the European Patent Office — The Official Journal of the European Patent Office is a monthly trilingual publication of the European Patent Office (EPO). It contains notices and information of a general character issued by the President of the European Patent Office, as well… …   Wikipedia

  • List of decisions and opinions of the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office — This is a list of decisions and opinions of the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) in chronological order of the dates when the decisions were issued. The list is incomplete. Contents 1 1980 – 1989 2 1990 – 1994 3 1995 – …   Wikipedia

  • Standing Advisory Committee before the European Patent Office — The Standing Advisory Committee before the European Patent Office (SACEPO, French: Comité consultatif permanent auprès de l OEB , German: Ständiger Beratender Ausschuss beim EPA ) is a committee advising the European Patent Office (EPO) on patent …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”