INTEllECTUAl PROPERTY 286 CHIMIA 2000, 54, No.5

Chimia 54 (2000) 286-287 © Neue Schweizerische Chemische Gesellschatl ISSN 0009-4293

Safeguarding Europe-Wide Protection: the European

Ulrich Schatz*

Abstract: The European patent system, created in 1977, provides for the co-existence of a national and a centralised procedure for the grant of . Central grant authority for European patents is the in , which carries out its task on the basis of the provisions laid down in the European Patent Convention. The establishment of a Europe-wide patent system has led to a significant increase in the demand for patent rights in Europe. Inthe framework of their co-operation, the member states of the European Patent Organisation have also created a unique patent information network for accessing the information contained in patent documents. In view of its impending eastward expansion, the European Patent Organisa- tion is set to undertake a revision of the European patent system to ensure its flexibility in the future. Keywords: esp@cenet . Europe· Innovation· Internet· Patent information' Patents

The conclusion of the European Patent borders proves that this Organisation has grounds for revocation by the EPO in an Convention on 5 October 1973 was an changed the landscape of industrial prop- opposition procedure and those by na- important milestone on the road to a uni- erty protection in Europe. The worldwide tional courts in revocation or infringe- fied patent in Europe. In 1997 the Europe- development in the field of patents has, ment procedures. Furthermore, the Con- an Patent Office celebrated its 20th anni- moreover, been significantly influenced vention provides for professional repre- versary, The founding of the European by the European Patent Convention enter- sentation before the EPO, creates the Patent Organisation in 1977 and the open- ing into force. link between procedures under the Pat- ing of the EPO in January 1978 ushered in ent Cooperation Treaty and under the a period of exemplary co-operation on EPC, contains provisions for the acces- An Intergovernmental Organisation patents in Europe. sion of new member states and condi- The establishment of a two-tier Euro- The European Patent Convention tions for its revision. pean patent system made up by the Euro- (EPC) provides the legal background for pean Patent Office (EPO) and the national the European Patent Organisation. The The Advantages of the European patent offices of the Organisation's mem- Organisation is made upoftwo bodies: the Patent System ber states is certainly among the most Administrative Council, where the Con- important and impressive achievements tracting States are represented as the su- The main objective of the European of European integration. The European pervisory body, and the European Patent patent system is to rationalise the granting Patent Organisation currently has 19 mem- Office as the executive body. Hence, the of patents, where Europe-wide protection ber states, namely all the EU countries EPO is not an institution of the European is requested, by applying a unitary and plus , , and Union although itcIosely co-operates with centralised procedure. By filing a single . Other countries are expected in all patent-related matters. The application in one of the three official to accede in due course, and already today Office enjoys a large degree of adminis- languages - English, French, and German it is possible to extend the protection con- trative autonomy and is completely self- - an applicant can obtain patent protection ferred by European patent applications financing. Its operating and investment in as many member and extension states as and patents to a number of central and budgets, including a pension scheme for he likes. Further objectives are to harmo- eastern European states which are not its employees, are funded entirely from nise and improve the quality of pa- members of the Organisation. procedural fees and from part of the annu- tents granted in Europe and to contribute The EPO' s development from a small- al renewal fees levied on granted Europe- to the creation of the Internal Market of the scale office with a staff of around 100 in an patents by the national patent authori- European Union and the European Eco- 1977 into a many-sided European author- ties. The Office has its headquarters in nomic Area. ity employing more than 4600 people Munich, a branch in and sub- The rationalisation effect of the Euro- offering services which are held in high offices in and . pean patent becomes evident if one consid- esteem both within Europe and beyond its The EPC also lays down the princi- ers that the 113 000 European applications filed in 1998, each of them designating 7.5 'Correspondence: Dr. U. Schatz ples of the European patent in practice. Vice-President a.1. It specifies the subject matter for which states on average, are the equivalent of European Patent Office (EPO) Euro-pean patents shall be granted (pat- approximately 825 000 national patent ap- 0-80298 MOnchen Tel.: +49 89 2399 5200/Fax: +49 89 2399 5219 entability), determines the procedure for plications filed in all member states. How- E-Mail: [email protected] the grant of European patents, the ever, the systems for granting national pat- INTEllECTUAL PROPERTY 287 CHIMIA 2000,54, No.5 ents in the Contracting States continue to ent Cooperation Treaty. As an Interna- accessible on esp@cenet, the world's most exist alongside the European procedure, tional Search Authority (ISA) and Inter- comprehensive free-of-charge patent serv- which shows that each EPC member state is national Preliminary Examining Authori- er on the Internet. esp@cenet gives users perfectly free to choose or maintain the ty (IPEA) the EPa handles nearly 60% of point-and-click access to more than 30 system best titting its own traditions and the worldwide workload under the PCT million patent documents with a user in- economic needs, whereas theEPC provides every year. terface in the national language of each for a central grant procedure on the basis of member state. The service has been devel- a single . oped with the intention of providing users The European Patent Infonnation Policy The protection effect of the European with a basic source of information which patent system has also been extended to In 1988 the Administrative Council of prepares the ground for a comprehensive six countries outside the Organisation: the European Patent Organisation laid patent search conducted by commercial , , , the former Yu- down the basic principles of a European patent information providers, patent agents goslav Republic of Macedonia, , patent information policy on the basis of or patent offices. and have concluded agreements shared roles between the EPO and nation- on the extension of European patent appli- al offices of the EPC Contracting States. Challenges for the Future cations and patents to their territory. More The EPa is to act as a central data produc- and more applicants are choosing this route er and wholesaler whereas dissemination The success of the European patent, to obtain patent protection in these coun- to end-users is the role of national offices the rapidly changing politicallandscapein tries in addition to the member states. as well as of the commercial sector. Europe and the progress in information The Convention establishes a central The rapid development of the Euro- technology are presenting the EPO with grant procedure on the basis of a single pean patent system and the advent of new new challenges to maintain its ability to patent application. This procedure is re- information and data storage technology react flexibly to the needs of the user cognised in all member states irrespective in the 1980s prepared the ground for deci- community. of their own national patent grant proce- siveimprovements in the information func- The increasing use ofInternet technol- dure. The European grant system is sup- tion of patent documentation. It is general- ogy in the Office's documentation and ported by 2600 examiners highly special- ly assumed that up to 80% of modern automation programmes has also acceler- ised in their respective technical fields. technical knowledge is disclosed only in ated the development of , an elec- The search examiner has access to an patent documents. To make this wealth of tronic business system which will allow impressive documentation of 35 million information more easily accessible to the electronic filing of patent applications. classified patent documents from all over public and thereby to improve the patent- This and other projects aim at further the world and to about 40 000 periodicals based transfer of technology in Europe, improving the user-friendliness of the pat- using a sophisticated electronic search and the member states of the European Patent ent grant procedure at the EPa. documentation system that links all four Organisation agreed in 1988 on a patent The fast-growing importance of pat- sites of the Office. Thanks to the thorough information policy. The aim of that policy ents in European integration has initiated search and examination carried out in the is to publish the national, European, and the process of an eastward expansion of patent grant procedure, European patents international patent documents on CO- the Organisation. While , after rat- provide a reliable basis for investment. ROM (also recently on DVD) and data- ification of the EPC, is set to become the They also playa key role in the transfer of bases. Under the name of EPIDOS, the Organisation's 20th member state this year, technology in Europe. EPO offers a large variety of patent infor- the Administrative Council has formally mation products and services to the pub- invited the , , Hun- lic. With thelaunch of the CD-ROM series gary, , Slovenia, , Roma- The Stimulating Effect on Innovation ESPACE® [1] in 1989, the Organisation nia and to accede to the Euro- The creation of a central European was breaking new ground in patent infor- pean Patent Convention by July 2002. grant procedure has led to a significant mation and has managed to set new tech- These states now have observer status on increase in patent activity in Europe. In the nical and quality standards which now the Administrative Council and its Com- larger Contracting States, the number of enjoy worldwide acceptance. mittee on Patent Law. applications has grown by 50% to 80%; in In 1997, the Organisation restructured The impending enlargement of the the smaller ones it has multiplied up to five its patent information pricing policy. It is Organisation has also prompted the Con- times and, in the smallest countries, a now extremely cost-effective and Internet tracting States to embark on a comprehen- growth factor of more than 10 was regis- integration has made it even more univer- sive revision of the European Patent Con- tered. The European patent system has led sal. The EPO now charges less for its vention, as applicants have made their to a substantial increase in the number of patent information products: since 1 July expectations of the future patent system inventions protected in Europe and to a 1997 it has been offering its EPIDOS clear: European patents must cost less, more even distribution of patent rights services and products at purely marginal they must have a unitary character and over larger and smaller European coun- cost. Thus for applicants, especially small- they must also provide reliable protection tries. Transfer of technology and econom- and medium-sized enterprises, the finan- for new technology. The way in which ic integration both within Europe and be- cial obstacles to accessing technical infor- these challenges will be put into practice tween Europe and other regions have also mation have been reduced. will determine the further development of benefited from the new patent system. With the advent of the Internet, the the European patent system. The EPO' s competence as patent grant European Patent Organisation has been authority is recognised even beyond the able to further enhance its patent informa- Received: March 31, 2000 borders of Europe as the Office also plays tion services with a new element. Patent a key role in the processing of internation- data from national, European, and interna- [1] EPIDOS, ESPACE, esp@cenet and epoline al patent applications filed under the Pat- tional patent collections are made publicly are registered of the EPO.