IP Law News

European patent registration - Transfer and constitution of rights

According to Art. 71 of the European Patent Convention (EPC), a European patent application may be transferred or give rise to rights for one or more of the designated Contracting States. 

 

Prepared by European Patent Registration and Consulting Services GmbH

European patent registration - Extent of protection

According to  art. 69 of the European Patent Convention (EPC) the extent of the protection conferred by a European patent or a European patent application shall be determined by the claims. Nevertheless, the description and drawings shall be used to interpret the claims. 

 

European patent registration, Effect of revocation or limitation of the European patent

According to art. 68 of the European Patent Convention (EPC) the European patent application and the resulting European patent shall be deemed not to have had, from the outset, the effects specified in Articles 64 EPC  (i.e. conferring in each Contracting State the same rights as would be conferred by a national patent granted)  and 67, EPC (i.e.

Rights conferred by a European patent application after publication

(1)

According to Art. 67 par. 1 of the European Patent Convention (EPC) a European patent application shall, from the date of its publication, provisionally confer upon the applicant the protection provided for by Article 64 EPC  (i.e. conferring in each Contracting State the same rights as would be conferred by a national patent granted) , in the Contracting States designated in the application.

 

 (2)

European patent registration - Equivalence of European filing with national filing

According to Art. 66 of the European Patent Convention (EPC) a European patent application which has been accorded a date of filing shall, in the designated Contracting States, be equivalent to a regular national filing, where appropriate with the priority claimed for the European patent application. 

 

Prepared by European Patent Registration and Consulting Services GmbH

Translation of the European patent

According to Art. 65 par. 1 of the European Patent Convention (EPC) any Contracting State may, if the European patent as granted, amended or limited by the European Patent Office is not drawn up in one of its official languages, prescribe that the proprietor of the patent shall supply to its central industrial property office a translation of the patent as granted, amended or limited in one of its official languages at his option or, where that State has prescribed the use of one specific official language, in that language.

Rights conferred by a European patent

According to art. 64 of the European Patent Convention  (EPC) a European patent shall, confer on its proprietor from the date on which the mention of its grant is published in the European Patent Bulletin, in each Contracting State in respect of which it is granted, the same rights as would be conferred by a national patent granted in that State.

 

If the subject-matter of the European patent is a process, the protection conferred by the patent shall extend to the products directly obtained by such process. 

 

Term of the European patent

According to the art. 63 par. 1 of the European Patent Convention  (EPC) , the term of the European patent shall be 20 years from the date of filing of the application. 

 

Nothing in the mentioned paragraph shall limit the right of a Contracting State to extend the term of a European patent, or to grant corresponding protection which follows immediately on expiry of the term of the patent, under the same conditions as those applying to national patents: 

(a)

in order to take account of a state of war or similar emergency conditions affecting that State; 

European patent registration - Right of the inventor to be mentioned

 

According  to Art. 62 of the European Patent Convention (EPC)  the inventor shall have the right, vis-à-vis the applicant for or proprietor of a European patent, to be mentioned as such before the European Patent Office. 

 

Prepared by European Patent Registration and Consulting Services GmbH

European patent applications filed by non-entitled persons

 

According  to Art. 61 of the European Patent Convention If by a final decision it is adjudged that a person other than the applicant is entitled to the grant of the European patent, that person may, in accordance with the Implementing Regulations: 

 

(a)

prosecute the European patent application as his own application in place of the applicant; 

(b)

file a new European patent application in respect of the same invention; or 

(c)

request that the European patent application be refused. 

(2)

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