Applications for a European Patent (EPC)
By filing a single application for a European patent it is possible to obtain a patent for 40 European countries.
The application is processed and the patent granted by the European Patent Office. The application shall designate the states and extension states in which the applicant wishes to obtain a patent. After the grant, the patent is validated in the designated countries. This is made by submitting a translation of the granted patent to the office of each designated state in a language approved in that state. After taking effect the European patent is like a national patent.
The European patent is based on the European Patent Convention, EPC, which came into force in 1977. So far 36 states have become parties to the Convention and four states have made a separate agreement (the so-called extension states) to the effect that the European patents are extended to cover them too.
The European Patent Office has its seat in Munich, Germany. It has a branch in The Hague and a sub-office in Berlin, Germany. In addition it has a patent information centre in Vienna, Austria.
Filing of applications
An application for a European patent may be filed either via the NBPR or directly with the European Patent Office, preferably its branch in The Hague or the Munich office.
Application forms, see EPC forms, and fees, see EPC fees.
The application may be drawn up in the English language, which is one of the languages of processing in the European Patent Office.
The application shall designate the states in which the applicant wishes to obtain a patent.
Processing in two phases
The processing takes place in two phases. In the first phase the applicant gets a search report which lists the potential obstacles to patentability. If the applicant wants to continue, he or she can, after six months have passed from the publishing of the search report, pay the fee for a preliminary examination of patentability, in which case the processing is continued and the applicant is given an assessment of the patentability of the invention.
When the office is ready to grant a patent, the applicant has to translate the patent claims also into the two other languages of EPO, for example into German and French, if the language of processing has been English. A fee for the grant of a patent is also payable before the grant.
The patent has been granted when an announcement to that effect has been published in the European Patent Bulletin.
Validating a patent in the designated countries
The European patent is not a supranational patent, but a bundle of national ones. For that reason, when a patent has been granted, it has still to be validated in the designated countries. According to Article 65 of the European Patent Convention, any member state may demand that, to take effect, the patent must be translated into the official language of that state. All countries that have become parties to the European Patent Convention, with the exception of Luxembourg and Monaco, demand a translation.
The translation must be submitted within three months from the grant of the patent. Fees for publishing the translation, if any, are payable at the same time; for further details, see National Law Relating to EPC.