This distance-learning course is offered to staff of PATLIB centres. Participants will learn how to perform patent searches and draft informative search reports. Virtual classroom sessions allow for direct interaction with expert tutors from three different PATLIB centres from three different countries.

The course is about providing complimentary information and experience for participants with regards to EPO Case Law related to the specific topics.

Level of expertise: Intermediate and advanced level

Please see the complete training programme.

The Boards of Appeal and key decisions conference is a unique opportunity for patent practitioners to gain an insight into the Board of Appeal case law and practice. The 10^th edition of this conference, online in 2020 provides updates on:

• - Boards of Appeal selected case law highlights
• - Novelty - ranges and multiple selections
• - AI and computer implemented inventions
• - Enlarged Board of Appeal opinion: G3/19

In this course you find recordings of two webinars on (1) the business use of patent information and (2) PATSTAT online.

This course comprises 35 recorded lectures in which expert examiners present their CPC technical fields.

The lectures are based on the presentations delivered during the CPC field-specific trainings that took place in 2018 in The Hague and in 2019 in Munich. The events were aimed at staff who use the CPC in classification at national offices in both member states and non-member states.

This distance learning course is offered to patent examiners of national IP offices, in particular those in charge of drafting communications on the merits of a patent application with respect to patentability requirements. Participants will broaden their skills in preparing the written search opinion accompanying a search report according to EPO Guidelines. Training will consist of on-line modules and tests. Recorded sessions of virtual classrooms which took place during the course OD09-2017 further enhance the understanding of the topics.

If you are interested in the course, get in touch with the Academy contact person at your office or with academy@epo.org.

This course includes presentations by EPO lawyers and examiners on recent changes in EPO substantive and procedural matters. Topics addressed are: assessing evidence and plausibility in sufficiency; essential features and their impact on compliance with EPC requirements; latest developments in the Guidelines referred to computer implemented inventions (CII); and procedural aspects at the final stages of the grant procedure towards the best possible protection.

This distance learning course is offered to patent examiners at national IP offices and comprises a series of ten live virtual classroom (VC) sessions on the use of EPOQUE Net. They will help to broaden skills of EPOQUE Net users at national offices. Practical cases will be provided as short assignments prior to each VC. Solution(s) proposed by participants and the tutor(s) will be therein discussed. Tips and tricks on efficient use of the EPO's professional patent search tool will be brought to participants. Features of possible new roll-outs will also be included in the course.

During the VC sessions, participants have the possibility to communicate live with the experts and ask questions.

Please see the complete training programme.

This distance learning course is offered to patent examiners at national IP offices who have started to use the EPOQUE Net tool. The course comprises on-line material, such as e-learning modules and will be articulated around a series of 6 virtual classroom (VC) sessions. The course has a focus on the hands-on experience, translated in the form of assignments, exercises and examples. The material will help EPOQUE Net users at national offices to efficiently perform searches using EPOQUE Net. The tutors are experienced EPO examiners. 

During the VC sessions, participants have the possibility to communicate live with the experts and ask questions.

This online course is offered to patent examiners at national IP offices of EPO member states to train them in the use of the CPVO database introduced to the EPOQUE Net tool. The training takes place in a virtual classroom (VC) session during which participants have the possibility to communicate live with the trainers and ask questions.

Registration form

From October to December 2020, D-type questions were sent on a daily basis to subscribers. You can still find the questions in an online course room with the answers and a forum which was tutored until the end of December 2020.
Enrol to the online course "EQE | Daily D questions".

"Boards of Appeal and key decisions" is an annual conference where experienced patent practitioners, judges and staff from national patent offices meet to discuss the most recent key decisions and developments in the EPO's boards of appeal case law.

On 4 December 2018 the EPO hosted as the first major patent office a conference entitled “Patenting Blockchain”, an event designed to open a discussion around the impact of Blockchain on the patent system. This course room offers access to the recordings of the lectures and panel discussions.

Examination Matters has become the meeting place for patent attorneys dealing with the EPO in the patent granting procedure. This year's event focused on a single broad thematic area, chemistry, and included four specialised, advanced-level workshops given by senior examiners. In addition, there were a roundtable on how the procedural, legal and administrative changes introduced under SP2023 will impact the work of patent attorneys and a lecture on substantive law.

This high-level event was once again organised in close co-operation with the epi.

The conference Examination Matters has become the meeting place for patent attorneys dealing with the EPO in the patent granting procedure. This course room offers access to the recordings of ten public lectures covering some of the most popular topics of the event.

The course provides an introduction to:

a) the EPO and its grant procedure
b) to the different IP rights and their relevance in protecting the outcome of research
c) the concept of invention and the main patentability requirements
d) practical aspects of a successful research valorisation: case study

REGISTRATION

This course room offers access to two videos giving an overview of the main changes to the Guidelines and their impact on formalities and examiner procedures.

Applying for a patent can be a complex undertaking, with many different aspects to consider. The two modules that take you through the Guide for Applicants give an insight into the procedure to be followed when examining European applications and patents in accordance with the European Patent Convention. The module on oral proceedings also shows you what happens in such proceedings relating to the examination procedure before the EPO.

The set of recorded lectures around IP management tackle issues on IP strategy, valuation, evaluation and commercialisation. Experts from different areas provide an insight on those topics with many practical examples.

Les secteurs de l'automobile et de la mobilité vivent une époque passionnante. Les technologies de rupture y sont désormais bien intégrées. L'étude récente de l’ OEB-AIE sur le stockage de l'énergie confirme la croissance rapide de l'innovation dans le domaine des batteries et la transition vers des énergies propres.
La propriété intellectuelle est aussi en cours d'adaptation.
Il y a de nouvelles opportunités à saisir et de nouveaux défis à relever.

REGISTRATION

These lectures are an opportunity to find out more about the services provided by the EPO, the latest developments in the PCT system and many practical aspects of the PCT procedure. Each lecture deals with the interaction with the EPO at different stages of the PCT procedure: as Receiving Office, as International Search Authority, International Preliminary Examination Authority and as a Designated Office. The speakers are experienced PCT lawyers from the directorate in charge of European and international legal affairs.

This distance learning course is intended for beginners in the profession but also for patent practitioners/patent engineers in industry that would like to refresh their EPC knowledge and skills. Participants will find out about the main steps of pre-drafting and drafting a European patent application, together with the formal and substantive aspects of prosecution.

Virtual classroom sessions allow for direct interaction with epi experts.

Level of expertise: Basic level

This self-paced training course gives an in-depth overview on the opposition procedure at the EPO.

Pan-European Seal: this on-line course is mandatory for candidates in international & legal affairs (DG5).

Every patent application is assigned a category in one of the major patent classification schemes to ensure it can be found in subsequent searches by patent offices and other interested parties. Learn more about how this is done.

This course provides easy access to the main concepts involved as well as to items of specific interest in patent litigation.

This course room offers access to material covering topics related to the substantive European patent law applicable specifically to healthcare and EPO's approach to examining patent applications in this field.

This course gives an insight into the specific patentability requirements and legal basis for particular topics such as biotechnology, computer-implemented inventions or patents based on traditional medicinal knowledge.

This course has been designed for patent attorneys and IP professionals with experience in filing PCT applications with the EPO. It offers access to four webinars which provide an opportunity to find out more about updates on the services provided by the EPO, the latest developments in the PCT system and many practical aspects of the PCT procedure.

This second course of the CPC series gives you a short overview of the CPC and how it differs from the IPC. It also looks at some practical aspects and useful strategies. 

This course provides you with an overview and practical exercises about the problem-solution approach, which was developed to assess the inventiveness requirement of a European patent application.

In this course, you will discover how to devise an effective search strategy, how to evaluate the prior art you find and how to know when to stop searching.find out about the role and importance of strategies in the search process.

This course is intended for those interested in judicial matters, such as the concept of "prior user", the principle applied to interpreting the scope of patent claims in an invention, the enforcement directive on IP rights and developments with regard to the unitary patent.

European university students from all disciplines will get hands-on experience of the EPO and insight into the work of EPO experts from a variety of fields to get a deeper understanding of the European patent system.

REGISTRATION

Use this on-line tool to learn how to use the IP Teaching Kit when preparing a lecture on IP.

This self-paced training course deals with the role of patents in innovation and research, the conditions an invention has to meet in order to become a patent and how to use patent documentation for a particular research project.

This itinerary is the third part of the 'IP and research' series and features a number of case studies, which illustrate the strategical and practical relevance of patents and IP for research-driven businesses.