News

The European Patent Office (EPO), the European Committee of Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance the support they provide to industry and stakeholders in Europe and beyond in the field of standard-essential patents. Read more

Asia-based innovators filed more than half of all international patent applications via WIPO for the first time in 2018 on significant growth from China, India and the Republic of Korea, capping another record-setting year for WIPO’s global intellectual property (IP) services. Read more

Trademark owners filed a record 3,447 cases under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) with WIPO’s Arbitration and Mediation Center in 2018 as businesses reacted to the proliferation of websites used for counterfeit sales, fraud, phishing, and other forms of online trademark abuse. Read more

As a follow-up to its "Patenting Blockchain" conference, the European Patent Office (EPO) has published a conference report entitled "Talking about a new revolution: blockchain" to provide insight into the impact of this technology on the patent system. Read more

The number of patent applications filed with the European Patent Office (EPO) grew by 4.6% last year, reaching a new high of 174 317 (2017: 166 594). The EPO's Annual Report for 2018 shows an increase in patents filed from all major industrial regions but European companies maintained the lead in their home market, Read more

The EPO celebrated International Women's Day on 8 March by launching "Women in the Lead", a mentorship programme in which senior managers will mentor women at the Office. Read more

EPO President António Campinos has spoken about the importance of cooperation at an IP conference in Bucharest, Romania. Read more

The consultation received a high interest in terms of user participation, with over 620 responses both from individuals and user groups. Read more

In the meeting of the Committee on Patent Law, the Office and the representatives of the 38 EPO Contracting States, together with the European Commission as observer, had a first exchange of views on possible next steps following the recent decision T 1063/18 of an EPO Board of Appeal on plant patentability. Read more

A work on loan from the EPO's art collection is being featured in an exhibition at the Center for Art and Media (ZKM) in Karlsruhe, Germany. Read more

The European Patent Office (EPO) and the Licensing Executives Society International (LESI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on bilateral co-operation to help innovators make better use of the European patent system. Read more