欧洲发明专利申请指南

 
注：欧洲发明专利申请除直接申请（含巴黎公约途径）外，还可通过PCT途径。如果是PCT途径进入的申请，需要最晚在最早优先权日起的31个月的期限内提交英语、德语或者法语的申请文件。如果是巴黎公约途径进入的申请，需要最晚在有优先权日起的12个月内提交英语、德语或者法语的申请文件。
1.发明专利申请准备及检索：提交欧洲发明专利申请前，专利申请人需要确认专利申请的主体，是否委托律师及在欧洲专利局（即EPO）数据库中检索该主题的对比文件；
2.提交申请：通过EPO提交的发明专利申请文件必须是官方指定语言，否则必须提交翻译。申请人在EPO成员国没有住所或主要商业经营地的，除申请的递交外，必须由欧洲当地有资质的代理人代理。在确认申请日后，EPO在格式审查中会检查申请的代理是否合格，不合格时会要求申请人在发出邀请后的两个月内选定代理。如果在规定期限内没有选定有资质的代理人的话，申请会被EPO拒绝。
3.专利检索：EPO对申请文件进行专利性有关的检索，根据检索结果出具扩展欧洲检索报告，申请人收到扩展欧洲检索报告后评估该发明专利可专利性及是否继续进行。
4.专利申请公布：发明专利申请在提交日期后18个月公布，通常与检索报告一起公布，如果有优先权，则公布优先日期。自公布之日起，欧洲专利申请在申请中指定的国家对发明给予临时保护。但是根据相关国家法律，可能需要向有关专利局提交索赔的翻译，并公布该译文。
5.专利实质审查：专利申请人根据检索报告公布之日起6个月内提出审查请求（或者在申请之日起同时提出实质审查请求），缴纳相应的审查费和指定费。
6.专利授权或者驳回：EPO根据审查结果作出专利授权或者驳回的决定。在收到EPO驳回发明申请的情况下，申请人不服驳回决定的，可以在决定送达两个月内向EPO提起申诉、缴纳申诉费，并在决定送达起四个月内提交申诉理由。当审查通过后，EPO将发出授权通知。申请人支付授权费并递交权利要求的其他两个语种的翻译译文。另外，需查询是否已经提交优先权证明文件的译文。
7.专利授权公告：EPO审查部门如果认为欧洲专利申请满足《欧洲专利公约》及其实施细则的要求，则应作出授权决定。授权决定于授权在欧洲专利公报上被公告的日期（即授权公告日）生效。授权公告后，EPO应尽早公布欧洲专利授权文本。
8.专利生效：一般在收到授权通知后，申请人就必须决定在指定国名单中选择生效国，通知EPO该专利在哪些国家生效。根据各生效国的规定，一般都需要将此项欧洲专利的全部内容翻译成该国的语言，并提交给该生效国登记，以便此项欧洲专利在该国生效。一般欧洲成员国要求在授权公告起3个月内完成翻译工作并在各国生效。
注：1.EPO检索没有出现单一性问题时，会出具扩展欧洲检索报告即欧洲检索报告和检索意见，该报告包含发明的可专利性意见，即对专利申请是否满足实质性授权条件（单一性、清楚性、新颖性、创造性等）的详细评述。如果检索到专利申请存在单一性问题时，申请人在收到EPO下发部分检索报告的同时，提供在权利要求中首次提到的发明的可专利性临时意见。这一临时意见只具有信息参考作用。
2.欧洲专利在授权公告后，有可能需要对权利要求或者整个专利文件进行翻译，才能在EPO的成员国中生效。但在德国、英国、法国、爱尔兰、瑞士、列支敦士登、卢森堡、摩纳哥、比利时，因为这些国家的官方语言含EPO官方语言（英、德、法）的至少一种，因此，根据伦敦协定，欧洲专利授权后不需要翻译，在这些国家直接生效。不过，一般仍需要向生效国的专利局登记欧洲专利在该国部分的代理人或联系人地址，以负责转交与欧洲专利在该国部分相关的通知。
在欧洲专利组织的其他国家，如果要求将专利的权利要求和/或说明书翻译成该国官方语言或该国指定的一种语言，则递交翻译的期限一般是自欧洲专利授权公告日起三个月内，仅极个别成员国允许更长一点的期限，如冰岛为四个月。欧洲专利进入这些成员国的生效程序（比如翻译、缴费）各个成员国都有各自的规定。如果错过生效的期限，是否有补救措施 、以及补救措施的具体规定也都由各个的成员国确定。
  注1：在申请文件（摘要、说明书、权利要求、附图）超出35页时，从第36页开始每页额外收费16欧元。权利要求超出15项时，从第16项到第50项每项费用245欧元，从第51项起每项费用610欧元。
注2：在直接申请时，指定费和审查费可以在欧洲检索报告公布的六个月内缴纳。
注3：请求人为自然人、中小企业、非营利组织、大学、公共研究机构时申诉费为1955欧元，请求人为其他机构时申诉费为2705欧元。 
注4：申请文件采用字符编码时为860欧元；但EPO目前尚未准备好字符编码DOCX文件电子提交的技术条件）。
 
欧洲发明专利申请注意事项
各专利类型的受理机构
欧洲发明专利可向EPO提交申请。EPO对欧洲发明专利进行审查，授权的欧洲专利在某一成员国生效后，其效力等同于该成员国的一件国内发明专利。
外观设计专利可通过欧盟知识产权局（即EUIPO）申请。欧盟外观设计分为注册式和非注册式两种。注册式外观设计，EUIPO不会对现有设计进行检索，也不会对实质授权条件（新颖性、独特性）进行审查，在审查通过后，欧盟知识产权局会授予注册证书并进行公布。非注册式外观设计无需提交申请，公开即可，非注册式外观设计仅能阻住他人的恶意复制。
实用新型专利必须直接向实用新型保护的国家/区域主管当局提出申请（含巴黎公约途径）或者通过PCT途径提出申请。根据世界知识产权组织提供的信息，目前可获得实用新型专利保护的国家或者国际组织为78个。专利局检查是否符合手续要求，并在不进行实质性审查的情况下注册实用新型。
 
国外申请人向EPO提请PPH条件
国外申请人如我国专利申请人向EPO提请PPH请求（即专利审查高速路），除我国是五大局试点项目成员国之一及在项目试点期限内（即2023年1月5日）外，还需满足：
1. 提起参与PPH试点项目请求的欧洲专利申请必须和对应的在先审查局的专利申请或PCT申请有相同的最先申请日。这里所谓的“最先申请日”指的是以下两种情况之一：对应的在先审查局的专利申请的优先权日或申请日或由在先审查局作为国际检索机构和/或国际初步审查机构的对应的PCT申请的优先权日或申请日。
2. 对应的专利申请中至少有一项权利要求被在先审查局认为是具有可专利性/可授权的。权利要求被作为国际检索机构和/或国际初步审查机构的在先审查局认定为具有新颖性、创造性和实用性，即符合这里所称的“可专利性/可授权”要求。
3.参与PPH试点项目请求所涵盖的欧洲专利申请的权利要求必须和被在先审查局认定为具有可专利性/可授权的权利要求足够吻合。在考虑到对权利要求不同的形式要求所带来的差异的前提下，只有在以下情况下才被认为“足够吻合”：权利要求范围相同或类似，或欧洲专利申请的权利要求范围小于在先审查局对应专利申请的权利要求。有鉴于此，一项权利要求被认为范围更小的情形发生在以下情况：一项在先审查局对应专利申请的权利要求在欧洲专利申请中被修改，且该修改是基于添加额外特征（该额外特征在专利文件的说明书和/或权利要求中有记载）而进一步限缩范围。
4.针对该件提起参加PPH试点项目请求的欧洲专利申请的实质审查尚未开始。
 
欧洲发明专利的保护期限及维护费
欧洲发明专利保护期为20年，自申请日起计算。
欧洲专利年费的缴纳期限取决于申请日，而不是优先权日或PCT申请进入欧洲地区阶段的日期。从第三年起每年需要向EPO缴纳年费，直到欧洲专利授权公告所在的那一年的年费被缴纳，这些年费只向EPO缴纳。之后的年费向欧洲专利生效的成员国缴纳，对于年费的高低以及缴纳年费的方法，各成员国也都有自己相应的规定。
向EPO缴纳下一次专利年的年费时，截止期限为申请日所在月份的最后一天。通常情况下不得早于截止期限3个月缴纳年费，但PCT进入欧洲时的第3年年费不得早于截止期限6个月缴纳。
一般情况下，如果在缴费期限内没有缴纳年费的话，EPO会发函通知申请人还可以在6个月内补缴年费，但需要支付一定的额外费用，为应该缴纳的年费的50％。但该函仅是作为EPO一项自愿的“courtesy service”，而不是法律要求的。因此，EPO如果不发此函而申请人最终错过6个月的附加期限的话，EPO并不为可能的后果承担责任。
6个月的附加期限也错过的话，申请会被视为撤回。EPO会发函通知申请人权利的丢失。此时，不能要求继续处理，而只能请求恢复权利。但恢复权利的程序要求比较严苛，特别是要满足已尽到全部谨慎责任的条件。
缴纳年费后，EPO一般不会发函确认，但可以过一段时间在EPO网上的登记簿中查到已缴纳的记录。也可以电话或写信要求EPO确认。 
 
欧洲专利申请异议程序
欧洲专利授权公告日起九个月内，任何人均可以向EPO针对欧洲专利提起异议；在异议费被缴纳之前异议被视为没有被提起。异议适用于所有该专利已生效的《欧洲专利公约》缔约国。异议程序的当事人包括异议人和专利权人。
异议仅能基于以下理由被提起：
1.欧洲专利的主题不具备 A. 52-57 EPC 所规定的可专利性（即属于被排除授权的主题，或不满足新颖性、创造性、工业实用性）；
2.发明专利没有清楚、完全地披露发明，以至于本领域技术人员无法实施它；
3.发明专利的主题超出原始提交的申请文件的内容；当专利基于分案申请或“违法获得”情况下受侵犯人重新提交的专利申请时，专利的主题超出在先申请原始提交文件的内容。
EPO异议部门如果认为A. 100 EPC 中所规定的至少一个异议理由成立，则应撤销该专利；否则，应驳回异议。
针对异议部门通知的回复，如果涉及实质问题，回复的期限一般为四个月；其他类型的问题，一般为两个月。仅在特殊的、理由充分的情况下，该期限才能被延长两个月。
  


   
Note：
You can choice the direct European route or the Euro-PCT route.
In the case of PCT entry, application documents in English, German or French are required to be submitted no later than 31 months from the earliest priority date. In the case of an application for entry via the Paris Convention, documents in English, German or French are required to be submitted at the latest within 12 months from the priority date.
 
Processes
1.Patent application preparation and retrieval: Before filing a patent application, the patent applicant needs to confirm the subject matter of the patent application, whether it needs to appoint an attorney, and search the comparison documents of the subject matter in the official database of the United States Patent and Trademark Office;
2.An application for a patent：Languages for European patent applications are  English, French and German.If you file your European patent application in any other language, you need to file a translation into one of the official languages of the EPO within two months of filing the application. If the applicant has no domicile or principal place of business in an EPO member state, in addition to the submission of the application, the applicant must be represented by a qualified local agent in Europe. After the confirmation of the application,EPO will conduct a format review to check whether the applicant is qualified or not. Failure to do so will require the applicant to select an agent within two months of the invitation. If a qualified agent is not selected within the specified period, the application will be rejected by  EPO.
3.Patent search: EPO will search the application documents related to the patentability, and issue an extended European search report based on the search results. Upon receipt of the Extended European Search Report, the applicant evaluates the patentability of the invention and whether to proceed.
4.Publications of patent applications: An invention patent application is published 18 months after the date of filing, usually with the search report and, if there is a priority, the priority date. As of the date of publication, the European patent application grants temporary protection to the invention in the country specified in the application. However, in accordance with the relevant national law, a translation of the claim may be required to be submitted to the relevant Patent Office and published.
5. Substantive examination of patent:the patent applicant shall make a request for examination within 6 months from the date of publication of the search report (or submit a request for substantive examination at the same time from the date of application), and pay the corresponding examination fee and designated fee.
6. Patent grant or rejection: EPO shall make a decision on patent grant or rejection based on the examination results. In the event that an application for invention is rejected by the EPO, if the applicant refuses to accept the rejection decision, he/she may file an appeal with the EPO and pay the appeal fee within two months after the service of the decision, and submit the reasons for the appeal within four months after the service of the decision. When the review is approved, the EPO will issue an authorization notice. The applicant pays the licensing fee and submits translations of the other two languages of the claim. In addition, you need to check whether the translation of the proof of priority has been submitted. 
7. Announement of Patent Authorization: If the EPO examination department considers that the European patent application and invention meet the requirements of the European Patent Convention and its Rules of Implementation, it shall make an authorization decision. The grant decision takes effect on the date on which the grant is published in the European Patent Gazette (i.e., the date of the grant announcement). The European Patent Office shall publish the text of the European patent authorization as soon as possible after the authorization is announced. 
8. Entry into force of the patent: Generally, upon receipt of the notice of authorization, the applicant must decide to select the entry into force from the list of designated countries and notify EPO of the countries in which the patent comes into force. In accordance with the regulations of each country in force, it is generally necessary to translate the entire content of the European patent into the language of that country and submit it to that country for registration in order for the European patent to become effective in that country. In general, European Member States require that the translation be completed and enter into force in each country within three months from the date of the authorization announcement.
Note: 1. When there is no singularity problem in the EPO search, the extended European search report, namely the European search report and the search opinion, will be issued. This report contains the patentability opinion of the invention, that is, a detailed comment on whether the patent application meets the conditions of substantive authorization (singleness, clarity, novelty, creativity, etc.). In the event of a search for a single patent application, the applicant may only receive a provisional opinion on the patentability of the invention first mentioned in the claim together with the partial search report issued by the European Patent Office. This provisional opinion is for informational purposes only.
2. A European patent may require a translation of the claims or the entire patent document after the grant announcement before it becomes effective in a member state of EPO. But in Germany, Britain, France, Ireland, Belgium, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, because the country's official language contains the EPO‘s official languages (English, German, French) at least one, therefore, according to the agreement of London,that  do not need to be translated after European patent authorization, directly take effect in these countries. However, it is generally still necessary to register with the Patent Office of the country in force the address of the agent or contact person for the part of the European patent in that country in order to be responsible for forwarding notifications relating to the part of the European patent in that country.
Patent organizations of other countries in Europe, if demands to patent rights and/or manual translated into the country's official language or its designated a language, is to submit the translation period normally since the European patent authorized public announcement within three months, only a few members allows longer period, such as Iceland for four months. The entry into force of European patents in these Member States (e.g. translation, payment)， Each member state has its own regulations (A.65 EPC). If the time limit for entry into force is missed, the existence of remedial measures and the specific provisions of remedial measures are also determined by the individual Member States. 1.An additional fee as part of the filing fee is payable for European patent applications comprising more than 35 pages.In the event of more than 15 claims, the fee is EUR 245 for each claim from item 16 to 50 and EUR 610 for each claim from item 51 onwards. 
2.in the case of direct application, the designation fee and the examination fee can be paid within six months of the publication of the European search report.
3. If a petition is requested, the appeal fee is EUR 1,955  when the petitioner is a natural person, a small and medium-sized enterprise, a non-profit organization, a university or a public research institution, and EUR 2,705 when the petitioner is a other institution.
4.EUR 860 when the application document is character encoded; However, the technical requirements for electronic submission of character-encoded DOCX documents have not yet been prepared by the European Commission.
Notes for  patent application in Europe European patents for inventions may be submitted to the EPO.EPO examines the European patent for invention, and the granted European patent, when it comes into force in a Member State, has the same effect as a domestic patent for invention in that Member State.
Designs can be filed through the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).Designs are divided into registered and non-registered two types. For registered designs, EUIPO will not search for existing designs, nor will it examine the actual licensing conditions (novelty, uniqueness). After passing the examination, the EU Intellectual Property Office will issue a certificate of registration and publish it. Non-registered designs do not need to submit an application. They can be made public. Non-registered designs can only prevent malicious copying by others.

Utility models must be filed with the competent national/regional authority that seeks protection for the utility model（Including the Paris Convention approach）or PCT. According to the information provided by WIPO, 78 countries or international organizations currently have access to patent protection for utility models. The Patent Office checks for compliance with procedural requirements and registers utility models without substantive examination. 

Foreign Applicants Submit PPH Request Conditions to EPO
If China's patent applicant applies PPH request (patent examination highway) to EPO, in addition to China's being one of IP5 members and within the pilot period of the project (i.e. January 5, 2023), it shall also meet the following requirements:
1. The European patent application for which a request to participate in the PPH pilot project has been filed must have the same first filing date as the corresponding prior review office patent application or PCT application. The "first filing date" herein refers to one of two situations: the priority date or filing date of the patent application of the corresponding prior review office or the corresponding PCT application of the prior review office acting as the international search agency and/or the international preliminary review agency.
2. At least one claim in the corresponding patent application is considered patentable/licensable by the Advance Review Office. Claims are determined to be novel, creative and practical by the Prior Review Board acting as the international search agency and/or the international preliminary review body, i.e., to meet the "patentability/licenability" requirements referred to here.
3. The claims of the European patent application covered by the request to participate in the PPH pilot project must be sufficiently consistent with the claims deemed patentable/licensable by the Advance Examining Authority. Taking into account the differences arising from the different forms of claims, it is considered to be 'sufficiently consistent' only if the claims are the same or similar in scope, or if the claims of the European patent application are smaller in scope than those of the prior examination office in relation to the patent application. Because of this, a claim is considered a smaller range in the following situations happen: a review of earlier bureau corresponding patent claims were modified in the European patent application, and the modification is based on adding additional features (the additional features in the patent document description and/or the claims recorded in) and narrowed the scope of further.
4. The substantive review of the European patent application requesting participation in the PPH pilot project has not yet begun. 
 
Protection Duration and Maintenance Fee
The period of protection of the European patent for invention is 20 years, calculated from the date of application.
The annual European patent fee is payable on the date of application, not the priority date or the date when the PCT application enters the European stage. An annual fee is payable to the European Patent Authority every year from the third year until the annual fee is paid in the year in which the European Patent Grant Notice is issued, and the annual fee is payable to the European Patent Authority only. The annual fee is then paid to the member state in which the European patent is in force, and each member state has its own rules on how high the annual fee should be and how it should be paid.
The deadline for the payment of the annual fee for the next patent year to EPO is the last day of the month in which the date of filing is made. The annual fee shall not normally be paid three months earlier than the deadline, but the third annual fee for the entry of PCT into Europe shall not be paid six months earlier than the deadline.
In general, if the annual fee has not been paid within the due period, the EPO will inform the applicant by letter that the annual fee can be repaid within 6 months, but there will be an additional fee, which is 50% of the due annual fee. However, this letter is only as a voluntary "courtesy service" of EPO and is not required by law. Therefore, the EPO is not liable for any possible consequences if the applicant ends up missing the additional period of 6 months if the letter is not sent.
If the additional period of 6 months is also missed, the application will be considered withdrawn. The EPO will notify the applicant of the loss of rights by letter. At this point, you cannot ask to continue processing, you can only ask for restoration of rights. However, the procedure for the restoration of rights is strict, especially if the full duty of care has been fulfilled.
After the payment of the annual fee,  EPO does not normally send a letter to confirm the payment, but the record of the payment can be found in  EPO Register over a period of time. You can also call or write to EPO for confirmation. 
 
Objection Procedure
Within nine months from the date of the announcement of the grant of the European patent, anyone can file an objection against the European patent with EPO; The objection shall not be considered to have been raised until the objection fee has been paid. The objection applies to all States Parties to the European Patent Convention in which the patent is in force. The parties involved in the objection procedure include the dissident and the patentee.
An objection may only be raised on the following grounds:
1. The subject matter of the European Patent does not meet the patentability set out in A.52-57 EPC (i.e., falls within the subject matter excluded from licensing or does not satisfy novelty, creativity or industrial utility);
2. the invention patent does not clearly and completely disclose the invention, so that the technical personnel in the field are unable to implement it;
3. The subject of the invention patent exceeds the content of the original application document submitted; When a patent is based on a subdivision application or a patent application refiled by an infringed person in the case of "unlawfully obtained," the subject matter of the patent extends beyond the content of the original filing of the prior application.
The Objection Division of EPO shall revoke the patent if it considers that at least one of the grounds of objection set out in A.100 EPC is valid; Otherwise, the objection shall be dismissed.
For the reply to the notice of the opposing department, if it involves substantive issues, the reply period is generally four months; For other types of problems, it's usually two months. The period can be extended for two months only in exceptional and justifiable circumstances. 
 
The Impact of Brexit on The European Patent System
The European Patent for Invention is solely responsible for the authorization procedure of its application by EPO. Authorized by EPO, the European patent may enter into force in the member states of the European Patent Organization, and the effect in each member state is equivalent to that of a domestic invention patent of that country.
EPO is an international organization with 38 member states, not an EU agency. EPO includes all 28 EU members, including the UK, as well as 10 non-EU countries, including Switzerland, Norway and Turkey.
Therefore, after the UK officially leaves the EU, it can still obtain the European patent authorization through EPO, and then take effect in the UK, so as to obtain the protection equivalent to a UK domestic invention patent in the UK.
Because of Britain's accession to the London Agreement, European patents, once granted, are automatically protected in the UK without any translation or official fees.