There are two ways to apply for a European patent: one is to submit a European patent application directly through the Paris Convention (with or without priority); The other is the stage of PCT international application entering the European region.
European patent application procedures generally include the following steps: (1) file an application and review the form of patent application.
Applicants can apply to the European Patent Office in one of the three official languages: English, French and German.
(two) the release of the query request and query report.
When submitting an application, you must make a search request and pay the search fee. For applications claiming foreign priority, the search report can be received in about 1 year.
(3) publishing patent applications
For the European patent application submitted through the Paris Convention, the European Patent Office will publish the patent application within 18 months from the priority date.
For the European patent application submitted through PCT, if the language published by PCT does not belong to the official language specified by EPO, the application will be published in the language of the submitted European patent application. If the language published by PCT already belongs to the official language specified by EPO, the application does not need to be published repeatedly.
(4) Make a request for substantive examination.
For an application for a European patent submitted through the Paris Convention, the applicant shall submit a request for substantive examination within 6 months from the date of publication of the search report of the European Patent Office, and at the same time, designate a specific member state from among the States parties to the European Patent Convention, and pay the examination fee and designation fee.
For the European patent application submitted through PCT, the applicant shall submit the European patent application with substantive examination request, and at the same time designate a specific member state from among the EPC contracting States, and pay the examination fee and designation fee. If 7 transfer fees are paid, all the contracting parties of EPC can be transferred. However, the designated fee for expanding the country needs to be paid separately.
(5) Substantive review
(6) Authorization, refusal and objection
(7) Entry into force
Generally speaking, after receiving the authorization notice, the applicant must decide to choose a valid country from the list of designated countries. According to the regulations of each effective country, it is usually necessary to translate all the contents of a patent into the language of that country and submit it to that effective country. The member countries of the European Patent Organization need to complete the translation work within 3 months after the authorization is announced, and it will take effect in all countries. If the applicant fails to submit the translation within the time limit, the patent right in this country will be lost.
(8) Maintenance
After completing the work that takes effect in different countries, the applicant has patents in different countries. They are independent of each other and have to pay an annual fee for each item.
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