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Quick help answers

What is displayed in the "Lapse during opposition" section? 

This is the date of lapse of a European patent in a contracting state or the date of lapse of a European patent with unitary effect in the territories of the participating member states covered by unitary patent protection during the opposition period, and where appropriate, pending a final decision on opposition (Rule 143(1)(p) EPC).

Why are the Unitary Patent (UP) panel views greyed out?

The Unitary Patent (UP) views remain greyed out (inactive) until unitary effect has been requested and the granted European patent has been published.

Why is there a blue icon in the designated contracting states section?

The icon indicates that a European patent with unitary effect has been requested. Clicking on the icon links directly to the “UP About this file” view, where you can view the list of participating member states covered by Unitary Patent protection at the date of registration.

What does UPC mean? 

UPC stands for Unitary Patent Court.  

Why do I see the "Opt-out from the exclusive competence of the UPC" section, even if an opt-out has not been sent or received?

For European patent and Euro-PCT applications, the opt-out section is displayed even if there has been no opt-out. However, for WO (PCT) applications designating the EPO and without a European patent publication number, the opt-out section is not displayed.

What happens if I click the ST36 button?

Clicking the ST36 button downloads the information on screen in WIPO ST.36 format.

What kind of information can be found if I click on the "Show history" button?

This button is only displayed if changes occured to bibliographic data published in the EP Bulletin during the application's lifetime, from the date of first publication by the EPO onwards.

What kind of information can be found under "Status"?

The list of legal events can be found under more...

What do the digits in square brackets refer to?

The digits in square brackets refer to the issue of the European Patent Bulletin (e.g. week 35 of year 1988) in which the relevant information was published. The European Patent Bulletin publications from 01.2002 onwards are hyperlinked so that by clicking on the link you can go straight to the relevant issue of the European Patent Bulletin.

What does N/P stand for?

The letters N/P between square brackets stand for "not published".

What does the letter in square brackets stand for in the "Documents cited" part?

The letter in square brackets stands for the category of document. For a list of categories click on "more...".

Is it possible to navigate in the result list?

Click on the "Search results" tab in the horizontal toolbar and you will be sent back to the latest result list displayed. To scroll forward to the next 20 results, simply click on the right arrow below the printer icon.

What are validation states?

Validation states are countries that are non-member states which have validation agreements with the EPO, allowing applicants to request the validation of a European patent to these countries.

What are extension states?

Extension states are countries that are non-- member states which have extension agreements with the EPO, allowing applicants to request the extension of a European patent or patent application to these countries.

What does "RE Reissue of A/B-publication/specification" in the Publication field mean?

It indicates that a patent specification published in the European Patent Register has been reissued with corrections made prior to the introduction of the new correction procedure in 2001. See file examples: EP0990962, EP0987789, EP0016574.