Section: Why do I need patent information? | EPO Patent information tools | e-learning centre

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Why do I need patent information?

  • Why do I need patent information?



    Introductory resources

    The following e-learning tools have been created to help you find your way around patent information products and services the EPO makes available to the public.

    • Patent information to put your business idea into context!

      Ideas alone are not always enough to make a successful breakthrough into the business world. Using intellectual property tools, users can find relevant legal, technical and commercial information to help them put their business idea in context.  

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      Patent information tour URL

      Patent information is the name we give to the technical information you find in patent documents, plus legal and business-relevant information about them.This e-learning module has been created to help you learn about patent information and its uses. 

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      Assistant: European Patent Register URL

      The European Patent Register contains all the publicly available information on European patent applications as they pass through the grant procedure, including oppositions, patent attorney/EPO correspondence and more. To guide you through the Register and to help you learn how to retrieve legal and procedural data, we have created this e-learning tool.

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      Introduction to the Global Patent Index (GPI) URL

      GPI is a powerful tool that enables you to perform detailed searches in the EPO's worldwide bibliographic, legal event and full-text data sets.

    • Introductions to the products and services

      The following videos present and explain some specific features of various highly useful tools.

      Federated Register
      OPS - Open Patent Services
      CCD - Common Citation Document (Espacenet)
      Register Alert
      Global Dossier
      EP Bulletin search
       European Patent Register
      GPI - Global Patent Index
      Patent families at the EPO

    • User manuals and pocket guides

      Click on the links to access:

      CCD Handbook ( EN)
      Pocket Guide: European Patent Register  (EN, FR, DE )
      Pocket Guide: New Espacenet (EN, FR, DE)
      Pocket Guide: Classic Espacenet  (EN, FR , DE)
      Resource Book: European Patent Register (EN,  FR,       DE)
      Resource Book: Classic Espacenet (EN)
      User manual: EP Bulletin search (EN)
      User manual: Global Patent Index (EN)
      User manual: Patent families at the EPO (EN)

Recordings from the experts