e-learning centre of the European Patent Academy

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.

In some cases, national authorities may license companies or individuals other than the patent owner to use the rights of the patent without the consent of the patent owner. “Compulsory licensing in Europe” provides a country-by-country overview of compulsory licensing regimes across the 38 EPC contracting states including possible grounds for grant, procedural framework and jurisprudence.

The EPO has designed the European patent administration certification (EPAC) targeting paralegals, patent administrators and formalities officers. Enrolment for the EPAC will run in September.

In this course, potential candidates find informative material to help them prepare for the first edition of the EPAC.

Find out more about this conference, where European and international user organisations, universities were discussing key substantive patent law harmonisation issues.

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.

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 several procedural and substantive aspects of examination proceedings, such as parameter features in claims, adaptation of the description, artificial intelligence in additive manufacturing and many other examination related topics.

Moreover, sustainability and digital transformation in the patent world were discussed.

This year’s event was once again organised in close co-operation with the epi.

This course room offers access to videos giving an overview of the new Guidelines (in force as of March 2023) and the updates relevant for examiner procedures.

In diesem Kurs finden Sie die Videos einer Vortragsreihe für Formalsachbearbeiter, welche im Februar und März 2017 stattfand. Juristen und erfahrene Formalsachbearbeiter des EPA behandelten Verfahrensfragen, Beispiele und aktuelle Entwicklungen aus speziellen Bereichen der Formalsachbearbeitung.

This course keeps you up to date with some of the most recent changes in patent law.

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
Fee: 350 € (for epi members)

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).

The course is aimed at professional representatives seeking to improve their practical expertise. Basic experience in oral proceedings is recommended. It is not open to EQE candidates.

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 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.

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 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 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 and the enforcement directive.

Participants are invited to register with an online course room that gives access to self-learning resources on computer-implemented inventions and business methods. Approximately one month after the course room opens, an online day is made available, comprising two two-hour sessions, for answering questions from participants and illustrating the main concepts with examples. The course is concluded with an online test. 

When having to decide if to grant a patent or refuse an application, the EPO examines whether an application meets the requirements of the European Patent Convention (EPC).

What exactly does this involve? And which are the steps of the procedure?

This course will give you an overview of the grant procedure at the EPO with insights into related formalities, structure and role of the Boards of Appeal and options to accelerate the procedure.

Watch here the live recording hosted on 05 April by Stefan Luginbuehl concerning the latest updates on the Unitary Patent and download the presentation shown.