European Patent Office (EPO) Glossary

Source: https://www.epo.org/service-support/glossary.html (retrieved 2021-04-03)

A

Abstract: Part of a patent application or specification. Contains a brief summary of the invention.

AC: Administrative Council. One of the two organs of the European Patent Organisation, the other being the European Patent Office. The Council acts as the Office's supervisory body and is composed of representatives of the Organisation's member states.

Administrative Council (AC): One of the two organs of the European Patent Organisation, the other being the European Patent Office. The Council acts as the Office's supervisory body and is composed of representatives of the Organisation's member states.

Appeal: Process by which a party challenges a decision taken by the European Patent Office, such as a decision to refuse a patent application. Decisions on appeals are taken by the EPO's independent Boards of Appeal. Parties may also challenge a decision to grant a patent by filing an opposition.

Application: Request for patent protection for an invention filed with the EPO or other patent office.

B

Biotechnology: The use of biological systems, living organisms or their components or products to perform specific industrial or manufacturing processes.

BoA: Boards of appeal. The Boards of Appeal are responsible for examining appeals against decisions taken by the Office. Integrated into the organisational structure of the Office yet independent from it in their decisions, they are bound only by the European Patent Convention. There are currently 28 technical Boards of Appeal, plus the Legal Board of Appeal, the Enlarged Board of Appeal and the Disciplinary Board of Appeal.

Boards of Appeal: The Boards of Appeal are responsible for examining appeals against decisions taken by the Office. Integrated into the organisational structure of the Office yet independent from it in their decisions, they are bound only by the European Patent Convention. There are currently 28 technical Boards of Appeal, plus the Legal Board of Appeal, the Enlarged Board of Appeal and the Disciplinary Board of Appeal.

C

CII: Computer-implemented inventions. Inventions that work by using a computer, a computer network or other programmable apparatus. To be patentable, they must have technical character and solve a technical problem, be new and involve an inventive technical contribution to the prior art.

Claim: Part of a patent application or specification. Defines the matter for which protection is sought in terms of technical features.

Computer-implemented inventions (CII): Inventions that work by using a computer, a computer network or other programmable apparatus. To be patentable, they must have technical character and solve a technical problem, be new and involve an inventive technical contribution to the prior art.

Contracting states: Countries that have ratified the European Patent Convention and are thus member states of the European Patent Organisation.

Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC): a patent classification system developed in partnership between the USPTO and the EPO.

Copyright: Intellectual property right given to creators of literary or artistic works.

CPC: Cooperative Patent Classification. A patent classification system developed in partnership between the USPTO and the EPO.

D

Description: Part of a patent application or specification. Discloses the invention as claimed, specifies the technical field to which the invention relates and indicates any prior art the applicant is aware of.

Designated states: The contracting states in which protection is sought for the invention.

Drawing: Pictorial representation of the invention in a patent application or specification.

E

EBoA: Enlarged Board of Appeal. Clarifies, interprets and ensures uniform application of important points of law relating to the EPC.

Enlarged Board of Appeal: Clarifies, interprets and ensures uniform application of important points of law relating to the EPC.

EPOQUE: EPO query services. A system enabling EPO examiners and national patent offices to query over 170 databases, including the EPO's own internal databases as well as databases from commercial providers covering patent and non-patent bibliographic data, abstracts and full text.

EQE: European qualifying examination. An exam designed to establish whether candidates have the aptitude and knowledge to represent applicants before the EPO.

Espacenet: Free online service allowing users to search the EPO's patent data collection.

Euro-PCT application: European patent application that has entered the European procedure via a PCT international application. Such an application is equivalent to a regular European patent application.

European patent: A patent that can be obtained for all the EPC contracting states by filing a single application with the EPO in one of the three official languages (English, French or German). European patents granted by the EPO have the same legal rights and are subject to the same conditions as national patents granted by the respective national patent office. A granted European patent is a "bundle" of national patents which must be validated at the national patent offices of the countries selected by the applicant for it to be effective.

European patent attorney: Qualified professional representative appointed to act on behalf of an applicant to draft a patent application and/or to accompany the application through the various stages of the patent grant procedure.

European Patent Bulletin: Contains bibliographic data as well as data concerning the legal status of European patent applications and patents. It is available in the form of free downloadable files and also as a subscription-based online search service (EP Bulletin search).

European Patent Convention (EPC): International treaty signed by the member states of the European Patent Organisation which provides a unified legal system under which European patents are granted.

European Patent Office: Provides a uniform application procedure which enables inventors to seek patent protection in up to 40 European countries. The executive arm of the European Patent Organisation.

European Patent Organisation: Intergovernmental organisation that was set up on the basis of the European Patent Convention. It has two bodies: the European Patent Office and the Administrative Council, which supervises the Office's activities.

European qualifying examination (EQE): An exam designed to establish whether candidates have the aptitude and knowledge to represent applicants before the EPO.

European search: Search carried out by the EPO on a direct European application.

Examination: The study of a patent application by a patent office examiner to determine whether or not an invention can be patented and whether the application complies with all the legal requirements (including formal requirements). Depending on issues raised in the resulting examination report, amendment of the patent application may be required.

Examiner: Specialist patent office staff whose job it is to evaluate the patentability of inventions claimed in patent applications.

Extension states: European countries that are not member states but which have extension agreements with the EPO, allowing applicants to request the extension of a European patent or patent application to these countries.

F

Filing date: Date accorded to an application if the filing requirements of the EPC are fulfilled. According to the EPC, applications must include an indication that a European patent is sought, information identifying the applicant and a description or a reference to a previously filed application.

I

Industrial property: Types of intellectual property that have an industrial application, such as patents, trade marks, designs, mask works and plant breeders' rights.

Infringement: Violation of an exclusive intellectual property right. Infringement includes making, using or selling a patented product or process without the permission of the patent holder.

INPADOC: EPO worldwide legal event data. INPADOC bulk data is the backbone of many EPO legal status products and services. It includes legal status events from over 40 international patent authorities worldwide and is available as backfile and frontfile data.

Intellectual property (IP): Creations of the mind or intellect. Intellectual property is divided into two categories: industrial property, which includes patents, trade marks, industrial designs, and copyright, which includes literary and artistic works such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic works such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, and architectural designs.

International patent application: Patent application filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

International Patent Classification (IPC): All patent applications are classified in this internationally recognised classification system.

International Patent Documentation Center (INPADOC): Previously used to describe the EPO's international patent collection containing patent families and legal status information. No longer widely in use.

International Search Report (ISR): Report produced by the International Searching Authority (ISA) containing the prior art documents most relevant to the subject-matter claimed in a patent application.

Invention: New product, process or apparatus or any new use thereof. To be patentable, an invention must be novel, involve an inventive step (i.e. not be obvious to those having ordinary skill in the particular art of the invention) and be susceptible of industrial application.

Inventive step: A condition for patentability. According to the European Patent Convention (EPC), an invention is considered as involving an inventive step if, having regard to the state of the art, it is not obvious to a person skilled in the art.

IP: Intellectual property. Creations of the mind or intellect. Intellectual property is divided into two categories: industrial property, which includes patents, trade marks, industrial designs, and copyright, which includes literary and artistic works such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic works such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, and architectural designs.

IPC: International Patent Classification. All patent applications are classified in this internationally recognised classification system.

IPRs: Intellectual property rights.

ISR: International Search Report. Report produced by the International Searching Authority (ISA) containing the prior art documents most relevant to the subject-matter claimed in a patent application.

L

Lapsed: Term used to describe when a patent no longer has legal effect in a country or system due to the failure of the patent owner to meet specific legal requirements, e.g. the payment of renewal fees.

Licence: Contractual agreement that gives written permission to another party to use an intellectual property right belonging to another person or company and defines the terms of use. A patent licence does not amount to an assignment of the patent.

M

Maintenance fees: See Renewal fees.

N

Nanotechnology: The science of designing, producing and using structures and devices that have one or more dimensions of 100 nanometres (one millionth of a millimetre) or less.

National application: Patent application filed with a national patent office in accordance with national procedure.

Novelty: A condition for patentability. An invention is novel (new) if it does not form part of the state of the art, i.e. it was not available to the public in written or oral form, by use, or in any other way, before the filing of the patent application.

NPO: National patent office

O

Obviousness: If an invention is obvious, that is, if a person with ordinary skill in the relevant field of technology can readily deduce it from publicly available information (prior art), then it does not meet the conditions for patentability.

Official Journal (OJ): The Official Journal of the EPO contains decisions of the President, notices from the EPO and other related information.

OJ: Official Journal of the EPO. Contains decisions of the President, notices from the EPO and other related information.

Opposition: Within nine months from the publication of the mention of the grant of a European patent in the European Patent Bulletin, any person may file a notice of opposition to the patent with the EPO. The opposition can be based on lack of patentability, e.g. lack of novelty or inventive step, or lack of sufficiently clear and complete disclosure of the invention, or the fact that the granted patent extends beyond the application as filed.

P

Paris Convention: International treaty governing patents, trade marks and unfair competition. Administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Patent: Legal title that gives inventors the right, for a limited period (usually 20 years), to prevent others from making, using or selling their invention without their permission in the countries for which the patent has been granted.

Patentability: Patent applications must meet certain requirements for a patent to be granted. If these requirements are satisfied, the invention is said to be patentable.

Patent application: Request for patent protection for an invention filed with the EPO or other patent office.

Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT): International treaty under which a single international patent application can be filed for patent protection in up to 144 countries.

Patent family: Set of interrelated patent applications filed in one or more countries to protect the same or a similar invention by a common inventor and linked by a common priority (or priorities).

Patent pending: Notice given that an application for a patent has been filed, and that legal protection (including retroactive rights) may be forthcoming.

Patent Register Service (PRS): One of the largest patent databases in the world in terms of both the countries and the time span covered. It covers the legal status of patents. PRS is better known as the EPO's Worldwide Legal Status Database.

Patent specification: Document that describes the invention and sets out the scope of protection. Includes the description, claims and any drawings.

PCT: Patent Cooperation Treaty. International treaty under which a single international patent application can be filed for patent protection in up to 144 countries.

PCT application: International application filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Person skilled in the art: Someone with knowledge and experience in the technical field of the invention.

Prior art (state of the art): Existing technological information which is used to determine if an invention is novel and involves an inventive step. Includes documentary sources such as patents and publications, and non-documentary sources such as things known or used publicly.

Priority: Right to file subsequent applications for the same invention at other offices. Valid for a period of 12 months from the date of first filing of a patent application. The first filing date is known as the priority date.

Priority date: Date of filing of a previous application for the same invention.

Professional representative: Person who is qualified to represent applicants or other parties before the EPO. The person must be a national of and have their place of business or employment in an EPO member state and must have either passed the European qualifying examination or, in the case of new member states, be entitled to represent persons before their national industrial property office.

Publication: A European patent application is published as soon as possible after the expiry of a period of eighteen months from the date of filing or, if priority has been claimed, from the date of priority.

R

Refusal: Decision not to grant a patent because it does not fulfil the necessary requirements.

Renewal fees: Must be paid to keep a patent in force. For European patents, they are payable to the national patent offices where the European patent has been validated.

S

Search report: Report on the results of the search on the prior art which the EPO may take into consideration when deciding whether the invention to which the application relates is new and involves an inventive step.

SMEs: Small and medium-sized enterprises.

Specification: Document that describes the invention and sets out the scope of protection. Includes the description, claims and any drawings.

State of the art (prior art): Existing technological information which is used to determine if an invention is novel and involves an inventive step. Includes documentary sources such as patents and publications, and non-documentary sources such as things known or used publicly.

Supplementary European search: Search carried out by the EPO on a Euro-PCT application entering the regional phase for which the International Searching Authority (ISA) was not the EPO.

T

Term: Maximum period for which a patent can be kept in force. For European patents, the term is set by Article 63 EPC at twenty years.

U

Unified Patent Court (UPC): will be a new pan-European court common to the contracting member states and created by an international treaty – the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court, which was signed in February 2013. It will have exclusive competence for the settlement of disputes in respect of both classical European patents and future unitary patents. The UPC will consist of a decentralised Court of First Instance, with local and regional divisions in the member states and a central division with its seat in Paris and sections in London and Munich, and a common Court of Appeal with its seat in Luxembourg.

Unitary Patent, or "European patent with unitary effect": will be a European patent granted by the EPO under the established rules and procedures of the European Patent Convention, to which, at the patent proprietor's request, unitary effect is given for the territory of the countries participating in the Unitary Patent scheme. The Unitary Patent will co-exist with national patents and with “classical” European patents.

UPC (Unified Patent Court): will be a new pan-European court common to the contracting member states and created by an international treaty – the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court, which was signed in February 2013. It will have exclusive competence for the settlement of disputes in respect of both classical European patents and future unitary patents. The UPC will consist of a decentralised Court of First Instance, with local and regional divisions in the member states and a central division with its seat in Paris and sections in London and Munich, and a common Court of Appeal with its seat in Luxembourg.

Utility model (UM): Intellectual property right available in some countries for technical innovations which might not qualify for a patent.

UM: Utility model. Intellectual property right available in some countries for technical innovations which might not qualify for a patent.

V

Validation states: countries (European or non-European) that have validation agreements with the EPO, allowing applicants to request validation of a European patent or patent application for these countries.

W

WIPO: World Intellectual Property Organization. Agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting the protection of intellectual property throughout the world by encouraging co-operation between nations.

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO): Agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting the protection of intellectual property throughout the world by encouraging co-operation between nations.

EPO worldwide legal status database (INPADOC): INPADOC raw data is the backbone of many EPO legal status products and services. It includes legal status events from over 40 international patent authorities worldwide and is available as backfile and frontfile data.