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.

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.

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

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.

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 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.

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. 

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

This distance learning course is offered to patent examiners at national IP offices who have started to use the EPOQUE Net tool. The course comprises on-line material, such as e-learning modules and will be articulated around a series of 6 virtual classroom (VC) sessions. The course has a focus on the hands-on experience, translated in the form of assignments, exercises and examples. The material will help EPOQUE Net users at national offices to efficiently perform searches using EPOQUE Net. The tutors are experienced EPO examiners.

During the VC sessions, participants have the possibility to communicate live with the experts and ask questions.

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

• G06F16
• G01N21
• B01D1-8/17-19

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.

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.

Following in the footsteps of Search Matters and Examination Matters, Opposition Matters is fast becoming a key event for patent searchers and attorneys alike, offering participants direct access to EPO examiners and lawyers and European patent attorneys with years of opposition experience.

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. 

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.

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 tutored e-learning course is intended for examiners of national industrial property offices participating in the pilot for the Search Tool.

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. 

This course gives an insight into the various aspects of the taking of evidence in proceedings before the EPO, ranging from the hearing of witnesses to inspecting products. The course provides an overview of the relevant legal background and related case law, supplemented by practical examples. Final mock oral proceedings conclude the course.  

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

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.

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.