EPO
Amended rules relating to the refund of the examination fee
By AWA | Posted on August 23, 2016
Today the rules relating to fees stipulates that the examination fee will be refunded in full if the European patent application is withdrawn, refused or deemed to be withdrawn before the Examination Division (ED) has assumed responsibility of the application. The examination fee can also be refunded at a rate of 75% if the European...
Prepare your strategy for the Unitary Patent and the UPC – (Part III)
By AWA | Posted on June 8, 2016
Strategies for pending patent applications and important aspects of the opt out procedure When preparing for the entry into force of the new Patent system in Europe, also patent application which are now currently pending before the European Patent Organization (EPO) must be considered. A decision must be made whether to try to delay the...
Tags: EPO, unified patent court, Unified Patent Court Agreement, unitary patent, UP, UPC, UPCA
Prepare your strategy for the Unitary Patent and the UPC – (Part II)
By AWA | Posted on June 2, 2016
The language regime for the Unitary Patent and the divisions of the UPC As we have written before the creation and start of the Unified Patent Court will change the mindset of patent litigation in Europe fundamentally. However, Europe is a diverse continent, not the least when it comes to languages. With the European Patent...
Tags: EPO, European Patent Office, language, unified patent court, Unified Patent Court Agreement, unitary patent, UP, UPC
Third strike hits the European Patent Office
By AWA | Posted on April 7, 2016
Last month, 91% (3,701) of 4062 of European Patent Office (EPO) employees voted for a one day strike to be held on April 7 at the EPO’s offices in Munich, The Hague, Berlin and Vienna. It thus adds to a number of strikes that has hit EPO since former Chairman of the Administrative Council of...
Tags: Benoît Battistelli, EPO, European Patent Office, SUEPO
Revised PACE programme from 1 January 2016
By AWA | Posted on February 12, 2016
The programme for accelerated prosecution of European Patent Applications (PACE) allows applicants to request that the European Patent Office (EPO) processes their application rapidly. The request must be filed in writing, but will be excluded from file inspection. In certain technical fields there has been constraints on how fast the EPO has been able to...
Tags: ECfS, ED, EESR, EPO, European Patent Applications, European Patent Office, ISA, PACE, PCT
The Unitary Patent takes an (inventive) step towards grant
By Love Koči | Posted on November 26, 2015
The Unitary Patent provides a new way for innovators and companies to protect their intellectual property in the EU. Currently, European patents are granted centrally by the European Patent Office (EPO), but result in a bundle of national patents which must be enforced on a country-by-country basis. In contrast, the Unitary Patent means that a...
Tags: EPO, renewal fee, unitary patent, UP
Will there be any difference in the oral hearings between the EPO and the UPC?
By AWA | Posted on May 13, 2015
Anyone who has been attending an oral proceeding at the EPO, either as an observer or as an active party knows what it’s like. You need to think fast and stay on your toes, and watch your language because every issue, often starting with added subject matter, is taken to a decision immediately. The proceedings...
Tags: EPO, oral hearings, unified patent court, unitary patent, UPC
First non-European country begins validating European patents
By Troels Peter Rørdam | Posted on April 15, 2015
As earlier announced on the Awapatent IP Blog here, Tunisia and Morocco has signed an agreement with the EPO on the validation of European patents in the respective countries. Effective 1 March 2015 the agreement with Morocco entered in to force, thus enabling applicants with a European patent application filed on or after this date...
Tags: EPO, European patent, Morocco
European patent validation in Morocco and Tunisia
By Troels Peter Rørdam | Posted on October 31, 2014
Recently, the EPO has initiated work on a new interesting possibility for European patent applicants. Namely, the EPO has reported having signed an agreement with the Tunisian government on the validation of European patents for Tunisia. A similar agreement has previously, in 2013, been signed with the Moroccan government. According to the agreements, European patents...
An unknown exception error at the EPO
By Anders Heebøll-Nielsen | Posted on August 4, 2014
We recently blogged about how the EPO has introduced the concept of small entities for obtaining fee reductions in procedures before the EPO. The new procedure can create a peculiar error that at least I did not foresee. The EPO Form 1001E for request for grant of a European patent contains a field, Item 5,...
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