This distance learning course is offered to patent examiners at national IP offices. Participants will learn to apply the criteria for Clarity as well as the methodology for determining the Unity of invention in line with the EPO practice (Guidelines and Case Law). 

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

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).

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

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

This course comprises 24 recorded lectures in which expert examiners present their CPC technical fields.

The lectures are based on the presentations delivered during the CPC field-specific training that took place between 5 and 7 June 2018 in The Hague. The event was aimed at staff who use the CPC in classification at national offices in both member states and non-member states.

The publication of information related to patent applications and granted patents is anchored in the EPC under Chapter II of Part VII.

The EPO maintains a variety of tools for searching and analysing this information and regularly conducts public webinars. 

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.

Since 2017, papers A and B are the same for all candidates, i.e. they are no longer offered in the technical fields chemistry and electricity/mechanics. This course explains what EQE candidates can expect from this new format.

How much do you know about time limits? Why not test your knowledge of the various topics in our question groups?

The European Patent Office addressed the challenges and opportunities of patenting Artificial Intelligence at a one-day conference on 30 May 2018, which connected people from business, academia, the judiciary, policy making and patent offices. This course room offers access to the recordings of the lectures and panel discussions.

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 three public webinars covering some of the most popular topics of the event.

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 ip4inno project consists of 21 modules specifically designed for business advisors, technology transfer professionals and anyone else interested in understanding how IP issues impact SMEs and new businesses.

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).

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

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 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.

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).

This self-paced course offers a practical guide towards systematic patent search, from the process of analysing the patent application to carrying out a sufficiently complete and efficient search and deciding when to stop the search.

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

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).

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).