EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE
Representation
epi Code of Conduct
Code of Conduct of the Institute of Professional Representatives before the European Patent Office
This Code, adopted under Articles 4(c) and 9(3) of the Founding Regulation, contains the recommendations of Council as to the conduct and activities of Members in so far as related to Members' profession.
In this Code, the following definitions are applicable:
"Founding Regulation"
means the "Regulation on the establishment of an institute of professional representatives before the European Patent Office", done at Munich on 21 October 1977, and any amendment thereof, for as long as that Regulation remains in force;
"Institute" or "epi"
means the Institute of Professional Representatives before the European Patent Office, as established by the Founding Regulation;
"Member"
means a member of the Institute;
"Council"
means the Council of the Institute;
"Client"
means any natural person or legal entity which takes professional advice, or requests professional services, willingly provided by a Member;
"Regulation on Discipline"
means the "Regulation on Discipline for professional representatives" adopted by the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation;
"Rules of Professional Conduct"
means the provisions of Part I (Articles 1, 2 and 3) of the Regulation on Discipline;
"Disciplinary Bodies"
means the bodies listed in Article 5 of the Regulation on Discipline;
"Disciplinary Committee"
means the Committee established by Article 11 of the Founding Regulation and mentioned in Article 5(a) of the Regulation on Discipline.
"Additional Rules of Procedure"
means the "Additional Rules of Procedure of the Disciplinary Committee of the Institute of Professional Representatives before the European Patent Office" adopted by the Disciplinary Committee and approved by the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation;
"Professional Entity"
means any firm or other organisation at which a Member has a place of business or employment, inter alia an IP firm, a law firm, an in-house IP department of a company or of an institution;
"Association of Representatives"
means a group of Members as referred to in Rule 152(11) EPC;
"Code"
means this Code of Conduct;
1. General
(a) The general requirements for Members are laid down in the Regulation on Discipline. In case of conflict between the provisions of the Regulation on Discipline and this Code, the Regulation on Discipline prevails.
(b) This Code is adopted in accordance with Articles 4(c) and 9(3) of the Founding Regulation and includes recommendations on conduct for Members. Non-compliance with any of the recommendations of this Code may be considered as a breach of the Rules of Professional Conduct. A Member is not released by this Code from responsibility to comply with the Rules of Professional Conduct set out in the Regulation on Discipline.
(c) The basic task of a Member is to serve as a reliable adviser to persons interested in patent matters. The Member must act as an independent counsellor by serving the interests of their Clients in an unbiased manner without regard to the Member's personal feelings or interests. Each Member is responsible for keeping their professional knowledge up to date.
(d) A Member must take measures to safeguard the interests of the Member's Clients in the event the Member would be prevented from exercising the Member's profession.
(e) Good fellowship among Members is a necessity for preserving the reputation of the profession and should be exercised irrespective of personal feelings.
(f) Each Member must know of the Code and the Rules of Professional Conduct and cannot plead ignorance of them.
(g) A breach of this Code or of the Rules of Professional Conduct cannot be justified by referring to instructions from a Client.
2. Advertisements
(a) Advertising is generally permitted provided that it is true and objective and conforms with basic principles such as integrity and compliance with professional secrecy.
(b) The following are exceptions to permitted advertising:
(1) the identification of a Client without the express authorisation of that Client;
(2) the mention of the name of another Member or Professional Entity unless there is a written co-operation agreement between the Member and that other Member or Professional Entity;
(3) the advertisement, announcement or publishing of offers to buy, sell or negotiate industrial property rights, except upon the instructions of a Client.
3. Relations with the Public
(a) A Member shall uphold the public reputation of the Institute, of its Members and of the practice of representation before the European Patent Office and the Unified Patent Court.
(b) A Member must not give any indication on premises or stationery of the Member's Professional Entity or otherwise which is misleading to the public.
(c) A Member must not give any commission to others for the introduction of business, but this does not extend to the acquisition in part or in whole of a Professional Entity.
(d) A Member must not permit without adequate supervision professional activities related to any Offices or Courts under the Member's name by a person who is not a Member. A Member is not exempted from this obligation by reason of carrying out professional activities under the name of an Association of Representatives.
(e) As far as the exercise of the Member's profession is concerned, a Member is responsible for the acts of assistants who are not Members.
4. Relations with Clients
(a) A Member must at all times give adequate care and attention and apply the necessary expertise to work entrusted to the Member by Clients. A Member must keep Clients informed of the status of their cases.
(b) In principle, a Member does not need to serve the interests of a Client in matters not connected with professional work entrusted to the Member by the Client.
(c) A Member may demand advance payments from a Client.
(d) A Member must decline an order which is in conflict with the Member's own interests. In such a case, if an order cannot be postponed without detriment to the Client, the Member must accept and perform the order only so far as immediately necessary to avoid such detriment; thereafter the Member must resign immediately from the case.
(e) A Member must not acquire a financial interest in any industrial property right in such circumstances as to give rise to a conflict between professional duty and interest. The Member must not charge a fee directly related to the outcome of the services provided by the Member.
(f) A Member must not take any action against a particular matter which is being handled or has been handled by the Member or another person in the Member's professional Entity, unless the Client in the matter agrees to this action or unless the Member has no cognisance of the matter and is no longer in a position to take cognisance of it. The Member is not permitted to make use in the action of information obtained during the time the matter was previously handled, unless the information is public.
(g) A Member is automatically released from any secrecy obligation according to Article 2 of the Regulation on Discipline if the secret information becomes public.
5. Relations with other Members
(a) A Member must observe good fellowship towards other Members, and this includes courtesy and the fact that a Member may not speak of another Member in discourteous or offensive terms. Any grievance in respect of another Member should first be discussed in private with the other Member, either directly or through a third Member. If the grievance is not resolved, and only if necessary, the Member may file a complaint through the official channels prescribed by the Institute, in the Regulation on Discipline and in the Additional Rules of Procedure.
(b) Since a prime interest of the Institute is to maintain a unified profession, Members must not exercise or promote any discrimination between Members.
(c) A Member must avoid any exchange of views about a specific case, which the Member knows or suspects is or was being handled by another Member, with the Client of the case, unless the Client declares their wish to have an independent view or to change their representative. The Member may inform the other Member only if the Client agrees.
(d) Where a Member is instructed by a Client to take over the handling of a case from another Member, the Member so instructed is free to accept such instruction but then must ensure that the other Member is informed. Such other Member must without delay, loan or transfer all documents necessary for the handling of the case or provide copies at reasonable expense to the new representative.
6. Relations with Offices and Courts
In all dealings with any Office or Court or any employee thereof where the Member is entitled to act, including in particular the European Patent Office and the Unified Patent Court, a Member must act courteously, and must do everything possible to uphold the good reputation of this Institute and its Members.
7. Relations with the Institute
(a) A Member must keep the Institute informed of their address (including email address) to which correspondence and other information from the Institute are to be sent. Changes of address (including email address) must be notified to the Secretary General without delay.
(b) No Member may, unless authorised by the President of the Institute, make any written or oral communication on behalf of the Institute.
(c) A Member has the right to seek through the Secretary General an opinion on the permissibility, under this Code, of any act or omission the Member proposes. Such opinion is not binding on the Disciplinary Bodies.
(d) Breaches of this Code can be brought to the notice of the Disciplinary Committee in accordance with the requirements laid down in the Regulation on Discipline and in the Additional Rules of Procedure.
8. Conduct provisions in connection with elections within epi
All elections to the positions of President, Vice-Presidents, Secretary General, Deputy Secretary General, Treasurer, Deputy Treasurer, to the Disciplinary Committee and to other Committees of epi, as well as election of the Auditors and elections to any body of the EPO or other organisation where epi is represented by its Members, must be conducted in a spirit of fairness to all candidates and transparency of information provided, having regard in particular to Art. 5(a) and (b) of this Code. Each candidate for election is required to disclose in a timely manner before voting commences any information that is material to the candidate's suitability for election, even if this is not explicitly called for in documents pertaining to the election in question.
No aspect of compliance with this article must justify or be taken as consent for interference with election voting once this has commenced.
Decided by the Council of the Institute on 13.11.1979, Brussels
supplemented on 5.11.1985, Munich
amended on 7.05.1996, Dublin
amended on 3.10.1997, Strasbourg
amended on 8.05.2001, Madrid
amended on 23.11.2019, Lisbon
amended on 7.05.2022, Munich
amended on 11.11.2023, Ljubljana
amended on 16.11.2024, Budapest