e-learning centre of the European Patent Academy

The seminar is for experienced patent attorneys seeking to improve their expertise on the topic.

Patents play an important role in the area of green technology. This advanced lecture series provides participants with insights into the innovations happening in green tech and reveal how IP strategy can lead to success.

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

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 online course takes specific examples as a basis for discussing the practical application of the legal texts by EPO staff in their daily work. Participants will have the opportunity to experience what the work of an examiner or a member of the Board of Appeal looks like, based on exercises, such as drafting a written opinion in search, evaluation amendments in examination, elaborating summons in opposition, and drafting a communication in appeal, among others.

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.

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

H04R, G10L13-17/26 G10L25-99, A61L15-33/18, A45B, B65B, C12N9/C07K14.

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.

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.

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. 

Registration

This blended e-learning course addresses the preparation for the EQE pre-examination. The on-line training material contains in-depth articles, case studies, quizzes to test your knowledge and previous examinations. Experienced epi tutors support you in a discussion forum as well as in live virtual classroom sessions.

The fee of EUR 350,- covers the participation in the course.

Registration

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.

"Search Matters" is an annual event that showcases the EPO's patent search strategies and techniques, focusing on efficient search strategies, search practice in specific technical fields, as well as recent developments.

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.

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

• G06F16
• G01N21
• B01D1-8/17-19

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

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 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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 examines the patentability requirements, legal basis and other criteria in the field of information technology. In particular, it focuses on patentable and non-patentable subject-matter and on the examination of computer-implemented inventions with respect to the requirements of Art. 52 EPC (exclusion, industrial application, novelty and inventive step).

The fee of EUR 320,- covers the participation in the course. 

Registration

This seminar series focuses on aspects of inventive step 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 the person skilled in the art, Hurdle 2 for CII, and general and field specific indicators. Participants may register for one or more seminars within the series. 

This self-paced course has been created to provide TUM students with  an overview of what patents are, what requirements an invention has to fulfill to be patentable and what a patent application should generally comply with. The course also deals with patent documentation and other intellectual property (IP) rights. Students can obtain a certificate after passing a quiz.

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 2016 to 2021.

The workshop addresses patenting issues related to the applications of quantum technologies. After a general introduction to quantum technologies, the workshop focuses on their applications to the fields of sensing and computing. 

Participants will be senior patent examiners working in the fields under discussion. The objective of the workshop is to foster an exchange of practices between the participants.

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 and the enforcement directive.

In order to understand, locate and evaluate patent information you need to know something about patent documents. In this self-paced online course you will learn about patents and patent documentation.

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.