e-learning centre of the European Patent Academy

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

Medtech refers to the innovative field results from the application of technology to the medical industry and has contributed to the development of products, services and solutions that can save and improve people's lives. In this advanced lecture series a wide range of IP professionals, from inventors and IP specialists to examiners, explain how patents can be used to protect medtech inventions.

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.

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.

This course comprises 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 from 2018 onwards. The events were aimed at staff who use the CPC in classification at national offices in both member states and non-member states.

In this course, you will gain an understanding of the main categories of intellectual property (IP) rights, their primary features and how to apply these rights. The emphasis is on patents and on the “what”, “when” and “how” of protecting inventions. Further topics include how to search for patents and how to develop an IP strategy.

Watch this video to find out more about this course:

This high-impact tutored programme comprises three modules on search that build on each other to take participants from entry to intermediate level. At the end of the programme, participants should be able to process files autonomously under the supervision of an experienced colleague.

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.

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.

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 25 September to 15 December. There will be a dedicated forum for each question where you can post your answers. A European Patent Attorney comments 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.

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 workshop addresses the formal aspects of the procedures before the EPO, with a focus on the main steps of the procedure under the EPC, an introduction into the Unitary Patent system, and specific points of procedure under the EPC and under the PCT

The objective of the workshop is an exchange of practices between the participants. Participation is open to staff of national patent offices involved or interested in the formal aspects of the procedures before the EPO and the interface between the EPO and the national offices. 

This self-paced course provides candidates with help and guidance on how to tackle EQE papers A, B, C and D. 

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 series provides a unique opportunity to interact with former European Inventor Award finalists, learn from their inspiring experiences, and look at what goes into successfully bringing an invention to market.

The talks will be streamed on social media platforms, more details can be found on the EPO training page.

Innovation is the commercialisation of an invention. IP needs to be protected, but protection costs money, so it must be assessed within the overall context of innovation potential and enforceability. This course on IP management presents methodologies for making decisions on which technologies should be developed and which IP assets be created.

IP managers in high-growth technology businesses, typically in small and medium enterprises, need to be able to communicate with their company’s business, R&D and legal people. The IP strategy modules will introduce participants to essential management principles and how to apply them to the strategic management of IP assets. The focus is on value-based strategies for IP creation, and IP value extraction as an integral part of innovation strategy.

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. 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.

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.

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 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 seminar series focuses on advanced aspects of computer-implemented inventions and includes three complementary seminars, each of which comprises two online sessions: theoretical session (also open to patent attorneys) and practical session for examiners only. Topics covered are claim formulations, mathematics and AI, and game rules. Participants may register for one or more seminars within the series.

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.

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 workshop addresses substantive examination issues and challenges in the field of patent applications claiming presentation of information (POI) and graphical user interface (GUI). The objective of the workshop is an exchange of practices between the participants. Participation is open to patent examiners only.

This self-paced e-learning course is intended for examiners of national industrial property offices participating in the SEARCH pilot. It is designed to help those just starting to use the tool.

Search Matters has become the go-to event for patent search professionals interested in finding out more about the best search strategies and tools. This year's theme was "Searching for sustainability"  and the event focused on several practical aspects of the patent search process, such as efficiency in search, Asian patent documentation, prior art from the internet and many other search related topics.

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

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 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 seminar is designed as an aid to potential candidates preparing for the EPAC examination in 2023. It comprises 5 modules and extends over 5 months. For each module, participants to this seminar will study training materials before attending live question and answer sessions with EPO tutors. Each module ends with an online self-evaluation.

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 online course will enable trainers at PATLIB centres to plan and implement courses on Espacenet and other EPO search tools quickly and in a resource-efficient way.