Patents in Europe

The patent mechanisms in Europe are quite complex and need to be explained to be properly understood.

That is my (humble) goal!

I wish you an excellent read of the dossier « Patents in Europe« .

I will immediately point you to certain resources that will be of great help as you read through:

• The European Patent Convention (or EPC).
  • This convention was extensively updated in 2007 to comply, in particular, with another treaty, the PLT (and a significant renumbering of the articles was carried out).
  • In addition, minor updates are made regularly: the last one dates from 2013.
• The Implementing Regulations to the EPC.
  • This document is a kind of implementing decree (if we were to draw a parallel with French law);
• The Rules relating to Fees (or RF) (OJ 3/2012, RF supplement);
• The « Schedule of fees and official fees of the EPO (applicable from 1 April 2012)« , (OJ 3/2012, BTR supplement);
• The Transitional Provisions related to the introduction of the EPC 2000;
• The Guidelines for Examination practiced at the European Patent Office;
• The Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal (OJ 1/2013, RPBA supplement);
• The Rules of Procedure of the Enlarged Board of Appeal (OJ 1/2013, RPEBA supplement);
• The « Regulations on Current Accounts » (or RCC) and « Regulations on the Automatic Debiting Procedure » (or ADP) (OJ 3/2015, supplementary publication);
• The latest WIPO-EPO agreement concerning the EPO as ISA, SISA, IPEA (OJ 2010, 304);
• The national laws relating to the EPC.

Happy browsing!