e-learning centre of the European Patent Academy

Patents play an important role in the food technology. This advanced lecture series will provide participants with insights into the innovations shaping the food industry of the future, and reveal how IP strategy can lead to success.

Registration

Do you want to learn how to apply the criteria for clarity as well as the methodology for determining unity of invention in line with EPO practice (Guidelines and case law)?

This course provides you with the information you need on these topics, while giving examples of relevant Boards of Appeal decisions related to clarity and unity of invention.

This distance learning course is offered to patent examiners at national IP offices. Participants will learn to assess novelty and inventive step in line with the EPO practice (Guidelines and Case Law). Virtual classroom sessions allow for direct interaction with expert tutors from the European Patent Office.

This self-paced course will give you an overview of how patentability requirements are assessed at the EPO and what objections might be raised during the process. It includes a number of examples of different situations.

This distance learning course is intended for search champions nominated by their national office to help their local peers with the new Common Search Tool.

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.

Practice is the key to your preparations for Paper D of the EQE, so the Academy is offering you the chance to hone your legal skills by tackling a daily question on the paper. The questions will be posted weekly, for a 12-week period running from 27 September to 17 December. There will be a dedicated forum for each question where you can post your answers. Two European Patent Attorneys comment on the questions (and your answers) every Friday.

Registration

"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 go-to event for patent attorneys interested in finding out more about the patent granting procedure at the EPO. This year's event focused on procedural and substantive aspects of the examination procedure, including: auxiliary requests from the division's perspective, communicating successfully with the examining division, overcoming clarity issues efficiently, double patenting, late filings, efficient application drafting in the light of Rule 42(1)(c) EPC, correction of errors, hindsight when assessing inventive step, preparation of Rule 71(3) communications.

There was also a panel discussion on harmonising practices in applications relating to computer-implemented inventions.

This year’s 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.

This expert exchange between managers of patent/IP academies at the national offices of member states, who develop training programmes for audiences external to their offices, and their peers at the EPO, proposes to address key aspects of e-learning. The objective is to identify a possible set of best practices toward more complementarity and synergy between the existing training offers within the EPN.

This course offers CPC field-specific training for examiners for in these technical fields:  

This course offers CPC field-specific training for INPI examiners for selected sub-classes:

This course offers CPC field-specific training for UKIPO examiners for selected sub-classes: 

- G06F21 
- H04L67 
- A61K 

This self-paced course provides an overview of the benefits of the intellectual property system, and of patents in particular. You will discover the importance of patents from two perspectives: as a valuable source of information when it comes to researching whether an idea or a product has already been patented, and as a means of protecting inventions.

This course room offers access to videos giving an overview of the new Guidelines (in force as of March 2021) and the updates relevant for 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.

This self-paced course offers a basic introduction to the most important legal and procedural aspects of patents and the European patent system.

Pan-European Seal: this on-line course is mandatory for all candidates.

This series of six virtual classroom sessions (VCs) is designed for business advisors, technology transfer professionals and anyone else interested in understanding how IP issues impact SMEs and new businesses.

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.

The rise of innovative solutions in cinema, video games, human-machine interfaces and the food industry has made it all the more important to protect these fields through IP rights.

Watch the recordings of public lectures organised by the EPO and the EUIPO to find out how IP rights can be integrated and combined to support and protect innovation in these rapidly evolving industries.

Opposition Matters follows in the footsteps of its sister events, Search Matters and Examination Matters, which over the years have become key events for patent searchers and attorneys alike. Have you ever wondered what the day-to-day work of an examiner in opposition involves? The Opposition Matters conference offered the opportunity to find out - direct from our examiners and with senior European patent attorneys co-presenting alongside EPO examiners.

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

The EPO has been conducting a pilot project since 4 May 2020 for oral proceedings by videoconference before opposition divisions.

Get a feel for this new way of conducting oral proceedings by watching a recording of mock proceedings featuring a real EPO opposition division and experienced European patent attorneys.

This course is restricted to the participants of the BIT Knowledge eXchange (BKX). For inquiries on access please contact Ms Rogier at BKX@epo.org

The European Patent Convention (EPC) sets out the legal framework for a single, harmonised patent granting procedure for the European patent, which exists in parallel with national patents subject to national prosecution procedures.

Post-grant litigation and enforcement procedures differ quite substantially across the EPC contracting states, as do the courts adjudicating on patent matters. This online course provides a country-by-country overview.

This course room offers access to material covering a range of topics related to computer-implemented inventions, patentability requirements to new technologies, artificial intelligence and specific uses of CII in fields like biotech and healthcare.

This self-paced course explains the criteria for patentability, relating to both the invention and the patent application, according to the EPC.

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

This online course has been designed for staff of Patlib centres. Here they can expand their knowledge on the European patent system, patent information and IP rights with the help of self-paced courses and interactive VCs organised on these topics.

This online course has been designed for staff of Patlib centres. Here they can expand their knowledge on the European patent system, patent information and IP rights with the help of self-paced courses and interactive VCs organized on these topics.

This online course has been designed for staff of Patlib centres. Here they can expand their knowledge on the European patent system, patent information and IP rights with the help of self-paced courses and interactive VCs organized on these topics.

PCT Updates is an online seminar delivered in the three official languages of the EPO, about the latest developments on the PCT procedure at the EPO as receiving Office, International Searching Authority, International Preliminary Examination Authority and designated Office.

An EPO team of PCT experts, a WIPO expert and European patent attorneys provide information relevant for PCT users including the report on the 2021 PCT Working Group meeting, representation at the EPO in the international phase, obvious mistakes (R. 91 PCT) and the early entry into the European phase – request for early processing (Art. 23(2) / 40(2) PCT) as well as the processing of sequence listings, priority rights and online services and training.

This self-paced course room gives candidates access to the actual pre-examination papers from 2015 to 2017.

This self-paced training course is all about understanding and interpreting the information contained in search reports and written opinions. The emphasis is on practical examples and exercises.

Pan-European Seal: this on-line course is mandatory for candidates in science and technology fields (DG1) and in international & legal affairs (DG5).

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.

This self-paced course explains the role of the EPO as appointed international searching authority and international preliminary examining authority in the process of search and examination of patent applications.

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

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 course presents tools and databases available at the EPO that help you to prepare and file your patent application.

This self-paced course offers an overview of the CPC classification system, from the basics to the CPC definition documents.

Pan-European Seal: this on-line course is mandatory for candidates in science and technology fields (DG1).