The European Patent Convention (EPC) was established in 1973 to
strengthen co-operation between the States of Europe in respect of the
protection of inventions, on the basis of the law established by the
convention and the setting up of the
European Patent Office
in
Munich for the grant of European patents in accordance with the law of
the EPC. Ireland became a member of the European Patent Organisation in
August 1992 having acceded to the EPC.
The EPO is not an institution of the European Union. It is a separate
international organisation with its own administration and headquarters
in Munich.
The main advantage and purpose of the EPC is that it allows patent
rights to be obtained in any one or more of the EPC contracting states
by making a single European patent application to the European Patent
Office. This may be considerably cheaper than making a separate
'national' application in each EPC member.
On the basis of a single patent application the EPO grants, in effect,
a "bundle" of national patents in respect of those contracting States,
which the applicant designates. There are 31 contracting states as of
30 June 2005. While the application is pending, renewal fees are
payable to the EPO. Once the patent is granted, renewal fees must be
paid to the Patent Offices of each of the designated countries.
When granted, a European Patent has the effect of a national patent in
each of the countries designated. A European Patent designating Ireland
has the same effect as if it were a full-term patent granted by the
Controller.
European patent applications may be filed either with the Patents Office in Ireland or direct to the European Patent Office.
The Patents Office transmits any application received to the EPO it is
not required to carry out any examination on the application before
transmittal. The Office does not require payment of a transmittal fee.
An applicant must transmit all relevant fees to the EPO directly.
A European application may claim the priority date of an Irish
application filed up to twelve months earlier. The European application
is published 18 months after the filing (or priority) date. The EPO
carries out a novelty search and the search report is published either
with the application or later on. The applicant then has the
possibility to decide whether or not to pursue his/her application by
requesting substantive examination. If the request for examination is
filed the specification is examined in detail by an Examining Division
in the EPO to see whether the application meets all the requirements.
After this examination the European Patent is granted and the patent
specification is published.
Within 9 months after the grant of the European Patent, any person may
give notice to the EPO of opposition to the patent granted. The
decision of the EPO whether the patent is to be maintained, amended or
revoked holds good in all the countries designated.
When a European Patent designating Ireland is granted, the relevant
particulars are transferred to the Patents Office by the EPO. If the
European patent specification is not filed in English (applications for
European patents must be either in English, French or German), then a
translation into English must be filed accompanied by the prescribed
fee, with the Patent Office within six months of the date of grant of
the European Patent. The patent is not considered to have had
legal force in Ireland if this translation is not filed, and the patent
is deemed void.
The Controller is empowered to revoke a patent granted under the
Patents Act if it appears to him that a European Patent designating
Ireland has also been granted in respect of the same invention, if both
applications have the same filing or priority date and were filed by
the same applicant.
It is possible to file a European Patent application electronically with the EPO.
For further information, contact:
European Patent Office,
Erhardstrasse 27,
D-8000, Munchen 2
Germany
Website:
www.european-patent-office.org
The following brochures are also available from either the EPO or the Patents Office:
"How to get a European Patent (Guide for applicants)"
"National Law relating to the EPC"