The first account of a "patent system"

In the ancient Greek city of Sybaris (destroyed in 510 BC), leaders decreed:

"If a cook invents a delicious new dish, no other cook is to be permitted to prepare that dish for one year.

During this time, only the inventor shall reap the commercial profits from his dish. This will motivate others to work hard and compete in such inventions."

Senate of Venice, 1474:

"Any person in this city who makes any new and ingenious contrivance, not made heretofore in our dominion, shall, as soon as it is perfected so that it can be used and exercised, give notice of the same to our State Judicial Office, it being forbidden up to 10 years for any other person in any territory of ours to make a contrivance in the form and resemblance thereof".

Today:New to the world (Europe); up to 20 years of protection

Incentive to innovate (grant protection)Incentive to share knowledge (publish the invention's details)

An early English patent issued in 1617

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Examples of valuable intellectual property

Coca-Cola®

Apple® iPod®

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DNA copying process

Harry Potter

Instant camera

What is a patent?

• A patent is a legal title granting its holder the right to prevent third parties from commercially using an invention without authorisation.

• In return for this protection, the holder has to disclose the invention to the public.

• Protection is granted:– for a limited period, generally 20

years– for a specific geographic area

Overview of intellectual property

Legal right What for? How?

Copyright Original creative or artistic forms

Trade marks Distinctive identification of products or services

Use and/orregistration

Registered designs Registration*

Patents New inventions Application and examination

Exists automatically

Trade secrets

External appearance

Valuable information not known to the public

Reasonable efforts to keep secret

Some IP found in a mobile phone

Trade marks:• Made by "Nokia"• Product "N95"• Software "Symbian", "Java"

Patents:• Data-processing methods• Semiconductor circuits• Chemical compounds• …

Copyrights:• Software code• Instruction manual• Ringtone• …

Trade secrets: ?

Designs (some of them registered):• Form of overall phone• Arrangement of buttons in oval shape• Three-dimensional wave form of buttons• …

© Nokia

Filing rates at selected patent offices

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Different Patent Procedures for Turkish Inventors

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National with Examination (TPE) National without Examination (TPE)National Utility Model (TPE)

PCT Search (WIPO)-> National (TPE)PCT Search (WIPO)-> PCT Examination (WIPO) -> National (TPE)

EPC (EPO) -> National (TPE)..soon EPC (EPO) -> European Patent , but Turkey?

European Patent Office (EPO) & European Patent Convention (EPC)

European Patent Office

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Our Mission:

As the patent office for Europe, we support innovation, competitivenessand economic growth across Europe through a commitment to high qualityand efficient services delivered underthe European Patent Convention.

The European Patent Convention

The European Patent Convention (EPC) – provides the legal framework for the granting of European patents

via a centralised procedure– establishes the European Patent Organisation

1973 – Diplomatic Conference in Munich ► signature of the EPC by 16 countries

1977 – Entry into force of the EPC in 7 countries - marked as follows

Structure of the European Patent Organisation

The legislative body

made up of delegates from the member states

supervises the activities of the Office

has a specific legislative function

European Patent Organisation

Administrative CouncilEuropean Patent Office

The executive body

responsible for examining European patent applications

36 member statesAustria • Belgium • Bulgaria • Croatia • Cyprus • Czech Republic • Denmark • Estonia • Finland • France • Germany •Greece • Hungary • Iceland • Ireland • Italy • Latvia • Liechtenstein • Lithuania •Luxembourg • Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia • Malta • Monaco • Netherlands • Norway • Poland • Portugal • Romania • San Marino • Slovakia • Slovenia • Spain • Sweden • Switzerland • Turkey • United Kingdom

European patent applications and patents can also be extended at the applicant's request to the following states:

Albania • Bosnia-Herzegovina • Serbia

Status: July 2009

Autonomy

• Second largest intergovernmental institution in Europe

• Not an EU institution

• Self-financing, i.e. revenuefrom fees covers operatingand capital expenditure

Number of staff

Munich 3 629

The Hague 2 659

Berlin 276

Vienna 117

Brussels 4

Total 6 685

Around 60% are patent examiners

Status: December 2008

Staff from 32 different countries

Locations

The EPO has offices at five different locations.

Its headquarters are in Munich.

Munich

• Patent grant procedure• Appeals• Quality management• Administration• Legal services• International affairs

The Hague Patent grant procedure Information management Administration Legal services

Berlin Patent grant procedure Administration

Vienna Patent information Administration European affairs

Brussels• Relations with the European

institutions and other organisations/associations

Our role in the European patent system

• We provide patent protection in up to 39 European countries based on a single application in one of the three official languages (German, English, French)European patent applications can be filed:– direct with the EPO– via the national patent offices of the contracting states– based on an international (PCT) application

• We are also responsible for – limitation and revocation proceedings by patentees – opposition proceedings by third parties– appeal proceedings before the Boards of Appeal

Our role in the international (PCT) system• We process international patent

applications– we act as a receiving office for

international applications (PCT) – we carry out international search

and preliminary examination procedures

Other services

• Free patent information services– online access to all European patent documents (updated weekly)– simple online searches in our database of over 60 million patent

applications – helpdesk staffed by experts on the Japanese, Chinese and Korean

patent systems

• Training– conferences– workshops and seminars– e-learning

Four key ingredients

Highly skilled examiners

Rigorous controls and commitment to improvement

Comprehensivesearch documentation

Quality Thorough and consistent procedures

High skilled examiners

• MSc-PhD engineers and scientists– high degree of technical expertise– knowledge of the EPO's three official languages

• Training during first two years– extensive legal and procedural training – individual coaching by experienced examiners

• Continuing professional development throughout career

Comprehensive search documentation

• World's largest collection of patent and non-patent literature documents, containing more than 400 million records in over 100 databases and updated daily

• Online access to more than 6 000 journals via the EPO Virtual Library

• New tools and services such as machine translation to extend the range of easily accessible information

• Ongoing efforts to improve the scope and quality of our documentation

Rigorous controls and commitment to improvement

• Up-to-date guidelines and instructions for examiners

• Spot-checks on search reports and patent quality

• Internal quality audits

• Single procedure– the European Patent Convention provides the legal framework for the

granting of European patents

• Systematic approach– each application is examined by a division of three technically

qualified examiners

• Review processes– each opposition is examined by three technically qualified examiners,

at least two of whom will not have been involved in the grant proceedings

for the patent– appeals heard by independent second-instance judiciary (Boards of

Appeal)

Thorough and consistent procedures

What does a patent look like?

• Bibliographic information– Inventor, proprietor, date of filing, technology class, etc.

• Abstract – Around 150 words as a search aid for other patent applications

• Description– Summary of prior art (i.e. the technology known to exist)– The problem that the invention is supposed to solve– An explanation and at least one way of carrying out the invention

• Claims– Define the extent of patent protection

• Drawings– Illustrate the claims and description

Structure of the description

• Prior art– Teapot with one spout

• Drawback of prior art– Time-consuming

• Problem to solve– Reduce filling time

• Solution– Provide a second spout

• Advantage of the invention– The time needed to fill multiple

cups is reduced

Where to apply for a patent

• National patent offices– National patent valid only in the country where it is granted– Non-residents can also apply for a patent– One year of "priority" for subsequent applications

• European Patent Office– A European patent is equivalent to national patents in the countries where

it is granted (the applicant chooses the countries)

• Via the Patent Cooperation Treaty– Just one application for up to 141 countries– After the initial application phase, the international application leads to

multiple national patent examination procedures– Decisions with cost implications can be delayed until 30-31 months after

filing (e.g. choice of countries to file in)

• There is no such thing as an international patent!

What is patentable (EPC)?

• To be patentable, an invention must:– have a technical character (e.g. comprise a product, process or

apparatus)– be new– involve an inventive step– be industrially applicable

• Some innovations are not patentable under the EPC:– for example, mathematical methods or formulae, computer programs

and business methods are as such not regarded as inventions

– new plant or animal varieties and inventions whose commercial exploitation would be contrary to "ordre public" or morality (e.g. the cloning of human life) are examples of inventions excluded from patentability

The patent procedure at the EPO

ApplicationSearch report

Publicationof application

Publicationof grant

Oppositionperiodexpires

Withdraw?

18 months

Approx. 4-5 years 9 months

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Overview of European patent grant procedure (I)

EuropeanpatentapplicationApplicant

Filing andformalitiesexaminationEPO

Search and searchreport togetherwith preliminaryopinion on patentability

Publication of application and search report

Online access to application file and legal status information

Observations by third parties possible

Public domain

Grant ofEuropean patent

Publicationof patentspecification

Validation in designated states

Refusal or withdrawal of application

Substantiveexamination

Applicant

EPO

Limitation orrevocationproceedingsSubstantive

examinationGrant of European patent

Refusal of application

Oppositionproceedings

Appealproceedings

Overview of European patent grant procedure (II)

Opposition by third parties possible

Publicdomain

Oppositions in 2008

Oppositions were filed against 5% of granted European patents. Over one third of all opposed patents were revoked.

Cost of a national patent application: Germany

InventionApply forpatent

EUR 60 EUR 350

ExaminationPatent attorney

EUR 1 000 to EUR 4 000

EUR 90EUR 70 EUR 70

Annual feesYear 3 4 5

Patent granted!

Total: EUR 1 700 - EUR 5 100(depending on complexity of patent and extent of applicant's preparation!

Cost of a European patent up to grant

EUR 5 000 patent office fees*

EUR 10 000 patent attorney fees*

EUR 3 000 translations*Protection in (e.g.):

GermanyUnited KingdomFranceItalySpainSwitzerland

Germanpatent

Europeanpatent

* Estimated cost. Actual cost depends very much on the specifics of the individual case.

How patents are used

• Protecting products and processes – Increasing turnover and profits– Attracting investors

• Licensing

• Cross-licensing

• Blocking competitors

• Building reputation

• …

• Not used

Licensing income of US universities

Source: AUTM US licensing survey 2004

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The value of European patents

Patent value

Sha

re o

f pat

ents

, %

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Share of patent value classes in total portfolio value

Just 3% of all patents!

Just 10% of all patents!

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Technical fields with the most filings (2008) - EPO

63 736

Number of applications

Number of applications in 2008

High-growth technical fields (at least 500 applications filed in 2008)

% growth in number of applications 2008 vs. 2007

1 074

522

655

532

737

2 365

735

502

2 109

539

Leading applicants and patentees in 2008

Applications Granted European patents

78 684

62 755

83 548

63 013

0 90 000

2007 2008

Applications filed

Direct European filings

Euro-PCT applications

entering the regional phase

Applications by residence of applicant (2008) - EPO

1995-2008 : All patents in the market – competitors in Turkey

TPE ARACILIGIYLA YAPILAN PATENT BAŞVURULARININ YILLARA GÖRE DAĞILIMI

Yıl Yerli Yabancı

  TPE PCT EPC Toplam TPE PCT EPC Toplam

1995 170 0 0 170 1520 0 0 1520

1996 189 0 0 189 687 26 0 713

1997 202 1 0 203 598 730 0 1328

1998 201 6 0 207 596 1680 0 2276

1999 265 11 0 276 524 2220 0 2744

2000 258 19 0 277 442 2714 0 3156

2001 298 39 0 337 119 2756 2 2877

2002 387 27 0 414 88 1335 37 1460

2003 454 35 1 490 43 305 314 662

2004 633 49 3 685 68 167 1342 1577

2005 895 33 7 935 75 143 2308 2526

2006 979 93 18 1090 71 89 3915 4075

2007 1747 60 31 1838 71 139 4141 4351

2008 2159 69 40 2268 68 107 4694 4869

Patent management

• Patent strategy– Offensive/defensive– Internationalisation– Kind of exploitation: licensing or own use

• Patent information– Keep abreast of technology– Avoid infringing patents– Understand the competitive landscape

• Communication– Compile convincing evidence that your patents are valuable– Inform investors and banks, clients and prospective employees

• Maintenance– Pay renewal fees, observe deadlines– Strengthen important patents and get rid of ones with no value

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What not to do when considering filing a patent application

• No publication prior to filinge.g. no article, press release, conference presentation/poster/proceedings or blog entry

• No sale of products incorporating the invention prior to filing

• No lecture or presentation prior to filing except under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA)

• Seek professional advice soon!• File before others do!

NDA

25% of all R&D efforts ...

… are wasted each year on inventions that have already been invented.

Don't start your R&D until you have done a search!

Solutions found in patent documents

10%Protected

90%Free to use

You can find many great solutions for free!

Searching for patents can be easy ...

Free worldwide patent information is available at http://ep.espacenet.com

… but some basic knowledge is needed!

Beware of "naïve" keyword searches such as ...

"Energy storing means"

Spring

"Semiconductor switching device with a control electrode"

This kind of "jargon" is often used to broaden the scope of the patent ...

Transistor

"Spherical object with floppy filaments"

Toy ball

Sometimes, the applicant simply doesn't want his patent to be found …

how to search for patents:

www.epo.org/wbt/pi-tour

www.epo.org/patents/learning/e-learning.html

. You are frequently cited,..

. Tübitak pays it for you,..

. If the inventor is from University, ...

. We can reach all publications in all languages,..

. PhD students, IP before thesis,..

. Engineering & Intellectual Property Law : not lawyers as attorneys,...

. English, German, French, Japanese, Chinese,..

. Literature Survey & Patent Coverage Survey,..

. Patent also for licensing with a strategy with professional help,..

Need more information?

www.epo.orginfo@epo.org