European patent application

Search report (after ±9 maanden)

After about nine months, the applicant receives the European search report. As with a Dutch patent application, the European search report cites publications that were found during the novelty search and contains an initial, non-binding opinion on the novelty and inventiveness of the invention in the light of the publications found.

End of priority year (after 12 months)

It is important to carefully study the search report and the publications cited therein before the end of the priority year. An applicant (or his patent attorney) will have to check whether the preliminary opinion is correct. Furthermore, if necessary, a patent attorney can examine whether the definition of the invention can be adapted to narrow the scope of the invention, to make it new and inventive, with respect to the technology described in the publications cited in the search report. By properly studying the search report, an applicant can make a well-founded decision whether or not to pursue patent protection in other countries or regions.

Publication of the patent application (after 18 months)

Eighteen months after filing of the European patent application will it be published.

Further examination by the European Patent Office (after 24 months)

If, after having taken note of the search report, an applicant wishes to continue the European grant procedure, the applicant will have to request within six months of publication the European Patent Office to further examine the patent application. This request is usually the start of a discussion between the applicant and the European Patent Office about the novelty and inventiveness of the invention. The applicant obviously wishes to be granted the widest possible patent, while the European Patent Office should only grant patents that are new and inventive or, more generally, that meet the requirements of the European Patent Convention. At this stage, an applicant can, if necessary, further narrow the definition of the invention to advance the discussion and obtain a patent.

After patent grant

After a European patent application has been granted, an applicant will have to choose in which countries the patent should take effect. Some countries that are party to the European Patent Convention require that a number of formalities must first be completed – such as submitting translations – before the European patent can take effect in those countries. In any case, an annual maintenance fee will have to be paid per selected country to keep the patent alive in the country concerned.

The green colored countries in the map below are the countries where a European patent may be in force.