About European Patent Office - EPO

Mission and vision

Our vision - what we want to be
With expert, well-supported staff, motivated to set worldwide standards in quality and efficiency, we will continue to contribute to innovation across Europe, and play a leading role in developing an effective global patent system. All our relationships - within our Office and with partners around the world - will prosper through trust, transparency, fairness and mutual respect. Our processes will empower our people to use their knowledge and skills to the full.

Our mission - what we do
As the Patent Office for Europe, we support innovation, competitiveness and economic growth across Europe through a commitment to high quality and efficient services delivered under the European Patent Convention.



Activities
The main task of the European Patent Office is to grant European patents.

Search and examination
The EPO carries out searches and substantive examinations on a steadily rising number of European patent applications and international applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty. In the case of European patent applications, the Office provides the option of an accelerated search and examination procedure. Read more about the grant procedure in the "Applying for a patent" section of our website.

Oppositions
The Office is also responsible for examining oppositions filed against granted European patents.

Appeals
The boards of appeal are responsible for deciding on appeals filed against decisions of the receiving, examining and opposition divisions of the EPO. They also consider alleged breaches of the Rules of Professional Conduct for professional representatives before the Office. The boards of appeal are independent, their decisions being governed solely by the provisions of the European Patent Convention. Read more about the boards of appeal .

Patent information
Disclosure of the invention and subsequent publication are fundamental to the European patent system. The European Publication Server is where the public can obtain official copies of European patent documents. The European Patent Register provides details of the procedural status of patent applications at the EPO.

The EPO's collection of over 70 million patent documents from all over the world is available to the public via the free Espacenet service on the internet. The EPO also provides a wide range of other products for searching patent databases. See the "Searching for patents" section of our website.



International relations

Activities
The European Patent Office (EPO) supports national intellectual property authorities by providing guidance on building up and organising IP offices, training general and specialist personnel, providing technical support to these authorities, and raising awareness about the economic, social and cultural impact of intellectual property.

Projects
The EPO is currently involved in the following projects:
* Africa and Middle East
* Asia
* China and Korea
* CIS and Mongolia
* Cooperative Patent Classification
* ECAP III
* EU-China (IPR 2)
* European institutions
* EU-Russia project
* ip4inno
* Latin America
* Member states
* Future member states
* OECD
* Trilateral co-operation

We are looking for:
Scientists and Engineers