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European applications
European patents can be granted for the 34 contracting states (as at January 2008) to the European Patent Convention (EPC) and, at the applicant's request, can be extended to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Serbia.
A European patent application consists of a request for the grant of a European patent (on Form 1001), a description of the invention, one or more claims, any drawings referred to in the description or claims, and an abstract.
The request for grant of a European patent must be filed on the form prescribed by the European Patent Office (Form 1001). You can get this form free of charge, together with explanatory notes, from the European Patent Office (EPO) and national industrial property offices, or download it from our website.
The minimum requirements to establish a filing date of a European patent application are: an indication that a European patent is sought, information identifying the applicant or allowing the applicant to be contacted, and a description of the invention or a reference to a previously filed application. The applicant will then need to complete the application documents as listed above.
The European grant procedure takes about three to five years from the date the application is filed. There are two main stages:
- formalities examination and search report preparation, where the Office checks that the application meets all the formal requirements and prepares a search report listing documents relevant to the application. This report is sent to the applicant together with an opinion on whether the application and the invention to which it relates seem to meet the requirements of the EPC.
- substantive examination, where the EPO, at the applicant's request, investigates whether the invention meets the requirements of the EPC and can therefore lead to the grant of a European patent. Otherwise the application will be refused; alternatively, it may be withdrawn.
Once the patent has been granted, there may be a further procedure:
- opposition proceedings, which can take place if an opposition is filed within nine months of publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent. Oppositions can be filed, for example, on the grounds that an invention is not patentable under the EPC, that it does not disclose the invention clearly and completely so that a person skilled in the art could carry it out, or that the subject-matter of the European patent extends beyond the content of the application as filed.
At this stage, revocation or limitation proceedings, initiated by the patent proprietor himself, may take place.
Appeal proceedings constitute a further, special procedure. Appeals may be filed against decisions taken by the Receiving Section, the examining divisions, the opposition divisions or the Legal Division. Decisions on appeals are taken by the independent boards of appeal. In certain cases it may be possible to file a petition for review by the Enlarged Board of Appeal.
The EPO's Guide for applicants - Part 1 describes the route to a European patent in more detail.