European Patent Organisation

The European Patent Organisation ( EPO) is an intergovernmental organization with headquarters in Munich, the ( EPC) was established by the European Patent Convention.

Organs and functions

The legal basis of the European Patent Organisation Art. 4-7 EPC. In Article 4 of the organs of the organization are defined:

  • The European Patent Office (EPO) and
  • The Board of Directors.

The organization has the task of granting European patents under the EPC. This task is carried out by the European Patent Office (EPO) and monitored by the Board. The Board has the authority to change them (Art. 33 EPC ), the Regulations, the tariff, and since the EPC 2000 Introduction In December 2007, several articles of the EPC.

The European Patent Organisation is not an EU institution. Your Member States are Contracting States of the EPC. For a long time (up to Malta's accession to the EPC 2007) were not even all EU Member States are parties to the EPC. As of June 2012 the EPC belong to eleven non-EU members, including Switzerland and Turkey.

European Patent Office

The main body of the EPO is the European Patent Office (EPO ), whose task is the examination and granting European patents. The Office was opened on 1 November 1977. The first patent application was registered on June 1, 1978.

The EPA also has its headquarters in Munich, Germany and offices in Rijswijk ( near The Hague ), Berlin and Vienna, and a liaison office in Brussels.

Service building

In The Hague is a new service building in planning.

President of the European Patent Office

The European Patent Office shall be headed by a president. Previous incumbents were:

  • Johannes Bob van Benthem (Netherlands) October 19, 1977 - April 30, 1985
  • Paul Braendli ( Switzerland ) May 1, 1985 - December 31, 1995
  • Ingo Kober ( Germany ) January 1, 1996 - June 30, 2004
  • Alain Pompidou (France) July 1, 2004 - June 30, 2007
  • Alison Brimelow ( UK ) July 1, 2007 - June 30, 2010
  • Benoit Battistelli (France) since 1 July 2010

Financing

The EPO finances itself from the space occupied by EPA method up fees and annual fees for pending patent applications. Following the granting of a European patent renewal fees are paid, however, by the patentees to the national patent offices of those countries in which these patents were validated ( Article 86 and Article 141 EPC). Only a fraction of these annual fees must be returned to the EPO by the Member States to finance. This proportion in 2009 was about 300 million euros, which is half of 600 million euros in annual fees that earn the States Parties annually granted European patents. Traditionally, the annual fees for applications and patents the largest share of the budget of the EPA fees of around one billion euros annually.

Staff

The European Patent Office has 6,800 employees who are nationals of the Member States and depending on the service level must master one, two or all three official languages ​​German, English and French. Approximately 71 % of staff have a university degree (mainly scientists, engineers and lawyers ). Approx. 58 % of staff are examiners who all have a university degree.

In Munich, employs about 3,900 staff in The Hague ( in the suburb of Rijswijk ) ca 2900, in Berlin, about 290, about 110 in Vienna and Brussels four staff (as of end of 2012).

Organs in proceedings before the European Patent Office

The following departments are responsible for the proceedings before the European Patent Office ( Article 15 EPC):

  • An entry point for the Preliminary and formalities examination of submitted patent applications,
  • Opposition divisions that deal with oppositions against patents granted,
  • Decisions in verification applications to serious procedural deficiencies complaints procedure ( partiality of a chamber member, false statement )
  • Decisions on questions of law which are presented to it by the Boards of Appeal,
  • An Enlarged Board of Appeal decides on questions of law, as well as requests for review at serious procedural deficiencies in the complaint process,
  • Examining Divisions for substantive examination of applications and the decision to grant or rejection,
  • Research departments that create the search reports to the applications,
  • A legal department as well as
  • Legal and technical boards of appeal, deal with complaints against decisions of the Patent Office.

The Appeal of the European Patent Office assimilated dishes and enjoy a degree of independence. So are members of the Boards of Appeal, for example, not bound by instructions of the President of the European Patent Office (Article 23 EPC). The Enlarged Board of Appeal is not another instance by a Board of Appeal, although the EPC 2000 was created a way of checking. The Enlarged Board is also responsible for giving opinions on legal questions submitted to it by the President of the European Patent Office (Article 22 EPC).

European patents

After the centralized procedure European patents with effect for the designated contract and extension states are granted. They may all be within nine months from the publication of the mention of grant of a patent by anyone at the European Patent Office be appealed, which can lead to limitation or revocation of the patent. The European patents correspond to a bundle of national patents and are equivalent to such. The decision of injuries or Revocation of European patents therefore falls within the domestic jurisdiction.

Single European patent

In addition, a new Unified European Patent in preparation, however, will be realized in the context of "enhanced cooperation " first in EU-Europe, but without the countries Spain and Italy ( probably because these two countries are not taken into account their language sufficient). This is intended to have for the whole EU economy in a unitary patent protection, similar to the U.S. patent for the entire United States applies.

Formally, the Single European patent will be constructed as a acting for a particular country European Patent previous type that is to be granted by the European Patent Office under the previous rules. The "land " for which this patent is effective, but is now all over Europe (initially excluding Italy and Spain), on the basis of a treaty between the countries involved, and that State contract is already effective if it is a sufficient number of countries has ratified. As a "national" dishes for the revocation and infringement procedures are special international chambers and appellate courts created under this treaty, in which there are judges from each of at least two Contracting States, where the State Treaty, inter alia, regulates which chamber is responsible and which language is the relative bargaining language. Unlike in nullity proceedings before the Federal Patent Court, the previous European patents may be sued void in terms of their effect for Germany, these judges but no technical judges ( with an academic degree in the field covered by patent technical field ) be, but legal, and also about their additional training is yet no details specified. Therefore, there are still quite concerned that the quality of the decisions of these panels may be the extent of the effect of the decisions - could not meet - namely, if necessary, the revocation of the patent for the whole of Europe.

European Inventor Award

Every year, the European Patent Organisation the European Inventor Award.

Board of Directors

The EPA is overseen by a Board of Directors, which represents the second body of the EPO and from the delegates of the States Parties ' representatives and their deputies is (Art. 26 para 1 EPC). These representatives of the countries in the EPA Board of Directors are in most cases at the same time directors of the national patent offices of their home country: Such as Kongstad Jesper from Denmark. This amalgamation of offices is considered by representatives of business, academia and the International Trade Union in the European Patent Office ( IGEPA ) critical.

The Belgian economist Professor Bruno van Pottelsberghe, Member of the European think tank Bruegel, criticized the supremacy of the national patent offices of the Board of Directors of EPO. He proposes to include also representatives from politics, industry and science to the Board and to give them a voice. In a model designed by Pottelberghe the Board of Directors of the EPO is composed of representatives of both national patent offices, as well as from other relevant stakeholders. These include large enterprises, small and medium-sized companies, patent attorneys, scientists, research-based universities, politicians and consumer organizations.

Ministerial Conference

At least every five years, a ministerial conference meet (Article 4a EPC). This product was added by the Act revising the EPC 2000, which came into force on 13 December 2007 (Federal Law Gazette I 2007 No. 45, September 5, 2007, pp. 2166 ). Thus, on December 12, 2012 should have held such a ministerial conference at the latest. But that is far below remained.

Kurt Haertel Gerkan, Marg and Partners Bruegel (institution) Espacenet
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