Author Archive

EPO Global dossier service was launched in June for the European Patent Register, and is now accessible via Espacenet. The advantage is that many more filewrappers are made available in Espacenet via the Global dossier. Espacenet gives access to all available documents, whereas filewrappers in the Register have ...

Continuing to improve the quality of services to its users by establishing a one-stop shop for applicants, the European Patent Office (EPO) has launched a new system for the online filing of patent applications. The launch marks a new and important step forward to reducing the amount of paper handling ...

In an effort to boost innovation and trade, the EPO has signed Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot programmes with the patent offices of Canada, Mexico and Singapore to launch accelerated treatment of patent applications, starting in January 2015. The bilateral agreements were signed in Geneva at the side ...

The launch of the new EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020 at the beginning of this year effected a paradigm shift: a fresh emphasis on innovation and an increased drive towards supporting the competitiveness of innovative SMEs and entrepreneurs within the EU and internationally. The proficient management of ...

Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Sweden topped this year’s Global Innovation Index, while Sub-Saharan Africa posted significant regional improvement in the annual rankings published by Cornell University, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organization. Amid a newly documented slowdown in the growth of global research and development, the ...

Meeting in Santander, Spain, EPO President Benoît Battistelli and the Director General of the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office, Patricia García-Escudero Marquéz, signed an agreement to promote the quality and efficiency of the Latin American patent system to the benefit of its users and of European industry ...

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our times. Fortunately, much can be done to address this challenge through technological innovation, including renewable sources of energy which help reduce carbon emissions. Governments throughout the world have embraced these technologies as a big part of the solution to climate change, and have implemented regulatory frameworks and incentives ...

The European Patent Office (EPO) has published a new product that builds directly on and extends the Patent Teaching Kit. Developed in co-operation with the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM), the IP Teaching Kit is a much more extensive set of teaching materials that covers all kinds of ...

The European Patent Office (EPO) in its function as International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) has further improved its practice under Chapter II PCT, following the entry into force on 1 July 2014 of new Rule 66.1ter and amended Rule 70.2(f) PCT. Pursuant to these provisions any IPEA will conduct a "top-up" ...

The Danish people voted yesterday in a referendum in favour of joining the Unified Patent Court (UPC). The Agreement on the UPC will set up a single and specialised EU patent jurisdiction. Once it enters into force, it will be possible to obtain a European patent with unitary effect – a ...