European patent

- abbreviated as EP patent - It is an intellectual property right valid in numerous European states (38 contracting states + 4 extension/validation states), the essential advantage of which is that it can be obtained in a uniform application and grant procedure. The European Patent Office (EPO), which has its headquarters in Munich, is responsible for examining and granting an EP patent.

According to Art. 2 of the European Patent Convention (EPC), an EPC patent has, in each Contracting State for which it has been granted, the same effect as a national patent granted in that State. Deviations from this principle are regulated separately in the EPC. On the date of grant of the EPC patent, this hitherto unitary property right is broken up into a bundle of individual national patents. Only the essential basic conditions concerning the validity and minimum effects of such a patent will continue to be laid down by the EPC. The significance, possibilities and effects of an EP patent are therefore essentially identical to those of a German patent, provided that it has been granted for the Federal Republic of Germany.

The applicant can determine the territorial scope of the EPC patent himself. This is particularly advantageous from the point of view of costs, since protection should only be sought for those countries in which an economic exploitation of the patented subject matter can be expected due to the market situation. In fact, the decision on the geographical extension must be taken only after the patent has been granted.

While the European patent grant procedure has many similarities with the German patent grant procedure, this does not apply to all national patent procedures of the individual member states of the EPC. In some member states, for example, there is generally no substantive examination of a patent application, but only registration, comparable to the German utility model. With the EP patent, it is therefore possible to obtain an examined and thus strong protective right for technical developments, which is valid in several European states.

The application and grant procedure for an EP patent is roughly similar to the procedure before the DPMA. However, there are stricter formal and time limit regulations, so that exact knowledge of the procedural details is of particular importance for the success of the application.

The official languages of the European Patent Office are German, English and French. As a rule, an EP application must be filed in one of these three languages. The official language in which the patent application (or translation) was filed is the language of proceedings. Normal correspondence in the grant procedure is therefore conducted in one of the three official languages. The EP patent application is published in the language of the proceedings. Similarly, the publication of the patent specification, which reproduces the text of the granted patent, is made in the language of the proceedings. In any case, the patent claims must be translated into the other two official languages. In addition, individual member states require the filing of a complete translation of the patent specification into the official language of the respective member state. Under the London Agreement, which entered into force in 2008, several countries have waived translations of the granted patent in whole or in part.

There is no doubt that obtaining an EP patent involves a cost that cannot be equated with the expenses that must be budgeted for a German patent. Comparative calculations have shown that, despite the costs of an EP patent which appear high at first sight, the "break even point" in the comparison between the European patent procedure and the filing of several parallel national patent applications has already been reached in three to four states. Due to the increased costs which must be expended to obtain an EP patent, it is particularly recommended that, prior to filing an EP patent application, the prospects of success for the grant of the patent and the scope of protection to be achieved be estimated. Accordingly, in many cases it is advantageous to start the patent protection of intellectual property by filing a national patent application. Within the available priority period (12 months from the first filing), during which an EP patent application can also be based on the preceding national patent application while maintaining seniority, the national procedure should be advanced, under appropriate management, to such an extent that an at least provisional assessment of the eligibility for protection of the invention applied for can be made.

The classical EP patent should not be confused with the  unity patent (European patent with unitary effect).