The European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the two organs of the European Patent Organisation (EPOrg), the other being the Administrative Council. The EPO acts as executive body for the organisationGower's Report on Intellectual Property , para 1.34 while the Administrative Council acts as its supervisory body as well as, to a limited extent, its legislative body. The actual legislative power to revise the European Patent Convention lies with the Contracting States themselves when meeting at a Conference of the Contracting States.
Within the European Patent Office, examiners are notably in charge of studying European patent applications, filed by applicants, to decide whether to grant a patent for an invention. The patents granted by the European Patent Office are called European patents.
Function
The European Patent Office (EPO) grants European patents covering the Contracting States to the European Patent Convention and several other states that have concluded extension and validation agreements with the EPO. The EPO provides a single patent grant procedure, but not a single patent from the point of view of enforcement. Hence a patent granted by the EPO is not a single or unitary European Union patent or uniformly recognised Europe-wide patent, but a bundle of national patents. Patents granted by the EPO can, however, be challenged centrally at the EPO via opposition proceedings. Besides granting European patents, the EPO is also in charge of establishing patentability search reports for national patent applications on behalf of the patent offices of France, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, San Marino, Lithuania, Latvia and Monaco.See Article 1 of Decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 5 October 2010 on the filing of copies of search results under Rule 141(1) EPC – utilisation scheme , EPO web site, Notices and decisions of the President, 20 October 2010. Consulted on 22 October 2010.
Role in the unitary patent Since the European patent with unitary effect (also called "unitary patent") entered into force on 1 June 2023, some administrative tasks relating thereto are performed by the EPO. Those tasks include the collection of renewal fees and registration of unitary effect upon grant, exclusive licenses and statements that licenses are available to any person. Decisions of the EPO regarding the unitary patent are open to appeal to the Unified Patent Court (UPC), rather than to the EPO Boards of Appeal.Article 32(1)i, Agreement on a Unified Patent Court, implementing Article 9.3 of Regulation 1257/2012
Legal status The European Patent Office is not a legal entity as such,Decision T 1012/03 of 1 December 2006, Reasons 29. but an organ of the European Patent Organisation, which has a legal personality.
Location and staff The EPO headquarters are located in Munich, Germany. The EPO has also a branch in Rijswijk, Netherlands, near The Hague,Enlarged Board of Appeal decision G 7/88 (Administrative Agreement) of 16.11.1990, Summary of Facts and Submissions, V.(3) sub-offices in Berlin, Germany, and Vienna, Austria, and an office for liaison with the EU institutions in Brussels, Belgium. At the end of 2019, the European Patent Office had a staff of 6 608 (with 3 675 based in Munich, 2 624 in Rijswijk, 227 in Berlin, 87 in Vienna and 3 in Brussels). The EPO comprised staff from 35 different nationalities, with 74% having a nationality different from that of the country they work in. In terms of gender diversity, 34% of all staff members were women. One quarter of managers were women, a slight increase on previous years. In 2019, the EPO spent over EUR 5 million on , with 94% of staff receiving at least one training activity during the year.European Patent Office, Annual Report 2019. Staff and resources , Fig. 2 Analysis of staff in post on 31 December 2009 by place of employment & grade. Consulted on 1 June 2010.
The premises of the European Patent Office enjoy a form of extraterritoriality. In accordance with the Protocol on Privileges and Immunities, which forms an integral part of the European Patent Convention under , the premises of the European Patent Organisation, and therefore those of the European Patent Office, are inviolable.Protocol on Privileges and Immunities, Article 1(1). The authorities of the States in which the Organisation has its premises are not authorized to enter those premises, except with the consent of the president of the European Patent Office.Protocol on Privileges and Immunities, Article 1(2). Such consent is however "assumed in case of fire or other disaster requiring prompt protective action".
Management Presidents of the European Patent Office1. Johannes Bob van Benthem (1 November 1977 – 30 April 1985), Dutch.2. Paul Braendli (1 May 1985 – 31 December 1995), Swiss.3. Ingo Kober (1 January 1996 – 30 June 2004), German.4. Alain Pompidou (1 July 2004 – 30 June 2007), French.5. Alison Brimelow (1 July 2007 – 30 June 2010), British.6. Benoît Battistelli (1 July 2010 – 30 June 2018), French.EPO web site, Benoît Battistelli elected EPO President , News, 1 March 2010. Consulted on 2 March 2010.7. António Campinos (from 1 July 2018), Portuguese-French. The European Patent Office is directed by a president, who is responsible for its activities to the Administrative Council. The president also represents the European Patent Organisation. The president has therefore a dual role: representative of the European Patent Organisation and head of the European Patent Office.Decision T 1012/03 of 1 December 2006, Reasons 35. The president of the European Patent Office is appointed by the Administrative Council. A majority of three-quarters of the votes of the Contracting States represented and voting in the Administrative Council is required for the appointment of the president., which refers to "Article 11, paragraph 1".See for instance: EPO web site, Decision on next EPO President deferred , News, 30 October 2009. Consulted on 31 October 2009.
The president is assisted by a collective body known as the Management Advisory Committee (MAC). Currently, the MAC comprises the president, three vice-presidents and several principal directors and directors. Each MAC member is responsible for a specific business area and reports to the president. The MAC is expected to implement initiatives in alignment with general policy and propose initiatives or policy changes that could impact the activities of the EPO.
More generally, the "management of the EPO is dominated by the delegates of the contracting States in the Administrative Council," these delegates being, according to Otto Bossung, primarily guided by their national interests rather than by supranational interests such as for instance the implementation of the EU internal market.
Languages The three official languages of the European Patent Office are English, French and German, and publications, including the European Patent Bulletin and Official Journal of the European Patent Office, are published in all three of those languages.
European patent applications may be filed in any language "Conditions" provided that a translation into one of the official languages is submitted within two months if the language of filing is not an EPO official language. The official language in which the application is filed or into which it is translated is taken to be the language of the proceedings and the application is published in that language. Documentary evidence may also be submitted in any language, although the EPO may require a translation.
Some Contracting States to the European Patent Convention have an official language which is not an official language of the EPO, such as Dutch, Italian or Spanish. These languages are referred to as "admissible non-EPO languages". Residents or nationals of such States may submit any documents subject to a time limit in an official language of that State and there is a period of one month for filing a translation into an official language or the document is deemed not to have been filed. The filing fee and examination fee are reduced by 30% for certain categories of applicants, namely for small and medium-sized enterprises, natural persons, and "non-profit organisations, universities or public research organisations", when filing a patent application or an examination request in an admissible non-EPO language and subsequently, or at the earliest simultaneously, file the necessary translation., , and RFees 14(1)
Departments and directorates-general
The European Patent Office includes the following departments to carry out the procedures laid down in the EPC: a Receiving Section, responsible for the examination on filing and the examination as to formal requirements of European patent applications; and Search Divisions, "responsible for drawing up European search reports"; and Examining Divisions, responsible for prior art searches and the examination of European patent applications; and Opposition Divisions, responsible for the examination of oppositions against any European patent; and a Legal Division, "responsible for decisions in respect of entries in the Register of European Patents and in respect of registration on, and deletion from, the list of professional representatives"; and Boards of Appeal, "responsible for the examination of appeals from decisions of the Receiving Section, the Examining Divisions and Opposition Divisions, and the Legal Division"; and and an Enlarged Board of Appeal to notably ensure uniform application of patent law. and
The above departments of European Patent Office are organized into three "Directorates-General" (DG), each being directed by a Vice-President, the DG Patent Granting Process, the DG Corporate Services, and the DG Legal and International Affairs, and a Boards of Appeal Unit, acting as the EPO's judiciary. According to Sir Robin Jacob, the members of the EPO Boards of Appeal are "judges in all but name".Sir Robin Jacob, National Courts and the EPO Litigation System, GRUR Int. 2008, Vol. 8–9, pages 658–662, referring to what he said in Lenzing's Appn. RPC 245 at p. 277 and repeated in Unilin v. Berry EWCA Civ. 364.
The European Patent Office does not make decisions on infringement matters. National courts have jurisdiction over infringement matters regarding European patents. Regarding the validity of European patents however, both the European Patent Office during opposition proceedings () and national courts during nullity proceedings () may decide to revoke a European patent.
Activities under the Patent Cooperation Treaty