1. The European Patent Office (EPO) is a regional patent organization established under the European Patent Convention. According to the European Patent Convention, a patent application can merely be examined through a single program in one language (French, German or English). Once the patent is granted, it can become effective in all designated countries, which has a same effect as the patent authorized in accordance with the patent law in designated countries. The term of validity of a European patent is 20 years from the date of filing. EPO is only responsible for the review, authorization and objection of the European patent, and the maintenance and protection, as well as the invalidation request of the other parties, shall be carried out by each designated country in accordance with the related patent law. By the end of August 2009, there are 34 member countries and more than 4 extension countries in the European Patent convention.           

The member countries are: Austria (AT), Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), Cyprus (CY), Czech Republic (CZ), Denmark (DK), Estonia (EE), Finland (FI), France (FR), Germany (DE), Greece (GR), Hungary (HU), Ireland (IE) Italy (IT), Luxemburg (LU), Monaco (MC), Holland (NL), Portugal (PT), Slovakia (SK), Spain (ES), Sweden (SE), Switzerland (CH), Liechtenstein (LI), Norway (NO), Poland (PL), Iceland (IS), the Republic of Latvia (LV), Croatia (HR), Malta (MT), Turkey (TR) and the UK (GB), Slovenia (SI), Romania (RO), Lithuania (LT) a total of 34 countries.

The extension countries are: Albania (AL), Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH), the Republic of Macedonia (MK, Serbia). The extension countries are not the formal member countries of the European Patent Convention. However, one authorized European patent application can be automatically effected in the extension countries.

2.  Application Process of an European Invention

The European Patent Convention unifies the process of applying, evaluating, and granting patents, which allows any natural person and legal person to apply for a European patent. European patent licensing conditions are basically the same as the Chinese patent application, which can be roughly divided into the following steps:

2.1   Submitting an application

Applicants choose to submit an application in English, French or German (one of the three official languages of the EPO application). In general, many applicants choose to apply in English.

2.2  Requesting searching

When submitting the application, the searching request must be submitted and the search fee must be paid. The European patent office usually searches for the existing technical documents relating to the patent application and informs the European patent agency of the search results. When an applicant receives this search report, it is necessary to evaluate the patentability of the invention and the possibility of obtaining the authorization based on the results of the search.

2.3  Disclosing the Patent Application

For a European patent application filed by the Paris convention, EPO will disclose the patent application within 18 months from the date of priority.

For a European patent application filed by the PCT approach, the application is unnecessary to be re-disclosed if the language of PCT is one of the official languages of EPO.

2.4  Submitting an application of substantive examination

For European patent applications submitted through the Paris Convention, the applicant shall submit an application of substantive examination within 6 months. Meanwhile, the applicant need to designate the EPC member countries and pay the examination fee and the designation fee.

2.5  Substantive Examination and Rejection

After the request for substantive examination is filed, the European patent application enters the trial procedure, and the applicant can receive a EPO review opinion within 1 to 3 years after the actual trial is submitted.

2.6  Granting and Objection

After examining the application, the EPO will issue a notice of authorization. The applicant agrees to authorize the text and to allow the application to enter the licensing process, or to make certain changes to the text or claims, and pay the licensing fee and submit the rights of the other two languages. In addition, it is necessary to inquire whether the translation of the priority document has been submitted. After the above are completed, the European patent has been duly authorized and issued a certificate of authorization.

After the authorization decision is made, the objection period shall be 9 months from the date of authorization announcement. After the European patent is granted, any person other than the patent holder may raise an objection.

2.7  Becoming effective in member countries

After receiving the notification of authorization, the applicant must select the countries in the list of the member countries, and notify EPO which countries will become effective.

3. Required documents for applying a European patent

   A. Written description, written claim, written abstract, drawings of written description and drawing of abstract.

   B. Letter of authorization for the application of patent, which is required to be signed by the applicant or stamped (no notarization or certification is required).

   C. Name and address of the applicant, name and address of the inventor, etc.

   D. Documents of priority (if any).