Patent protection in Europe: European patent application at a fixed price by a Patent Attorney

According to Article 52 of the Convention on the Grant of European Patents (European Patent Convention – EPC), European patents are granted for inventions in all fields of technology, provided they are new, involve an inventive step and are susceptible of industrial application. A patentable invention can concern products as well as processes.

A patentable invention must be new, must involve an inventive step and must be susceptible of industrial application. In this context, the invention is considered “new” if it does not belong to the prior art, which includes anything that has been made available to the public by written or oral description, by use or in any other way before the filing date of the European patent application. The invention is considered to involve an “inventive step” if it is not obvious to a person skilled in the art from the prior art. Finally, there is “industrial applicability” if the subject matter of the invention can be made or used in any industrial field, including agriculture.

In particular, discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods or aesthetic creations of form are not considered inventions in the sense of a European patent. Furthermore, European patents are not granted for inventions whose commercial exploitation would be contrary to public policy or morality, plant varieties or animal breeds, and essential biological processes for breeding plants or animals. This does not apply to microbiological processes and the products obtained with the aid of these processes. In this case, patent protection via an EP patent is therefore excluded.

After the patent has been granted, an EP patent splits down into individual national patents. In order for a patent to become valid in the respective countries (so-called validation), certain requirements must be met. Subsequently, in each contracting state for which it has been validated, the European patent has the same effect and is subject to the same regulations as a national patent granted in that state.

The grant of a European patent can be requested for one or more contracting states. The currently 38 contracting states are Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, Great Britain, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg, Monaco, Northern Macedonia, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Sweden, Slovakia, Slovenia, San Marino and Turkey.

Furthermore, protection in the countries of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro, as well as Morocco, the Republic of Moldova, Tunisia and Cambodia can be obtained via an EP patent under certain conditions.

The costs of an EP patent application in Europe depend on the scope of services requested. These consist of the official fees of the European Patent Office (EPO) (e.g. official fee for the application of a patent in Europe, official fees for the obligatory search and, if applicable, costs for the examination and designation fees) as well as our fee if we are allowed to assist you. 

An up-to-date overview of the official fees for a European patent application can also be found directly here on the website of the European Patent Office.

The scope of protection of a European patent (e.g. the claims) can only be limited after the patent application or even the granting, but not extended. Here, one is limited to the scope of the originally filed application documents.

After filing a European patent application, a patent examiner at the EPO usually conducts an extensive search for possible conflicting prior art. The main focus is on whether the invention meets the criteria of “novelty” and “inventive step”.

Even if a European patent has been granted, it unfortunately does not mean that the product based on it does not infringe any third-party IP rights such as patents or utility models.

Procedure of a patent application in Europe (with our assistance):

➔ Order & payment ➔ Draft (optionally: prior search if necessary) ➔ Filing of the application and forwarding of the official fees after your approval

➔ Prior art search by European Patent Office (EPO)

➔ Within 6 months after publication of the European search report: payment of examination and designation fees and response to search report

• ➔ if novelty and inventive step compared to prior art are given (and formal requirements are met) ➔ payment of grant fee and filing of claims in English and French ➔ grant of patent and issuance of certificate ➔ validation in desired countries (partly requiring translations) or, if applicable, in future European patent with unitary effect (“EU patent”, “unitary patent”)
• ➔ if novelty and inventive step compared to prior art are not considered to be given: Issue of an examination communication with a deadline by the EPO in order to remedy objections by means of comments and, if necessary, amended claims ➔ if successful, then grant of the patent, if not, further examination communication or oral proceedings (in the case of a rejection decision, there is the possibility of taking legal action against it)

After the EP patent has been granted, you may advertise the protected invention under certain conditions, e.g. with a notice such as “patent protection in Europe”, “patent protected”, “EP patent” or similar, as long as the patent is in force.

A patent at the European Patent Office can be renewed – upon payment of the renewal fees – up to the maximum protection period of 20 years.

Unlike a trademark, a European patent does not have to be used. Therefore, non-use is no reason for revocation of the EP patent. An obligation to use as well as a grace period does not exist for European patents either.