National judges

The EPO offers a limited number of internships at its Boards of Appeal for judges of the contracting states to the European Patent Convention (EPC).

The internships are organised jointly by the Boards of Appeal and the European Patent Academy, whose objectives include the promotion of equal access to training opportunities in the field of European and international patent law and practice across all current and future EPC contracting states. The internships last two weeks.

Summary

Location: Munich, onsite
Dates: 16.06.2025 to 28.06.2025
Registration deadline: 14.02.2025

Course prerequisites

How to apply
Please fill out this form here and email it to judicialtraining@epo.org along with your motivation letter and a full CV.

Requirements
The internships are open to qualified and practising national judges who are nationals of and resident in an EPC contracting state. Priority will be given to applicants working in courts which are competent to deal with patent cases. The main language of the internship programme is English, so a good command of the English language is essential. Candidates must first complete the online course on Patentability and revocation proceedings (Ref. JV01-2025).

Financial support
The EPO contributes towards living costs and travel to Munich. It does not cover any other expenses. Interns must provide their own health insurance to cover the trip.

Deadline for applications
The registration deadline for this year is 14 February 2025. 

Programme

The internships last two weeks. Prior to the internship, judicial interns must complete an online course on Patentability and revocation proceedings, reference JV01-2025, for a duration of 20 hours. This is followed by two weeks shadowing a technical board of appeal onsite. This involves reading all the case files, attending the oral proceedings and discussing the cases and the final decisions with the board. Due to the secrecy-of-deliberations rule, interns do not participate in reaching the final decision in a case. 

The internship programme 2025 will be structured as follows :

- preparatory course on patentability and revocation proceedings (CEST time) :

• 04 March (Tuesday), 10.30-12.30 and 13.30-15.30, online
• 05 March (Wednesday), 10.30-12.30, online
• 06 March (Thursday), 10.30-12.30, online
• 12 March (Wednesday), 15.00-17.00, online
• 26 March (Wednesday), 15.00-16.00, online
• 17 April (Thursday), 10.30-12.30, online (CEST time)

- Stay at the Boards of Appeal: 16-28 June (two weeks) in Munich (onsite)

Contact
academy@epo.org