Steps of European invention patent application

(1) Application: The applicant chooses to apply to EPO in one of the three official languages: English, French and German. If you apply to Europe through the Paris Convention within 12 months from the application date (priority date) of China's earlier application, and request China's priority, you need to submit priority certification documents. If PCT is adopted, PCT international application shall be submitted to the State Intellectual Property Office of China within 12 months from the application date (priority date) of the earlier application in China, and entry application shall be submitted to EPO within 30 months from the priority date.

(2) European Patent Office search: EPO usually searches the existing technical documents related to the patentability of the application and informs the patent agency of the search results. Applicants usually evaluate the patentability of their invention and the possibility of obtaining authorization based on the search results.

(3) Publication of patent application: EPO will publish the patent application at the expiration of 18 months from the priority date.

(4) Putting forward a request for substantive examination and substantive examination: The applicant shall submit a request for substantive examination at the same time of submitting the application or within 6 months from the date of publication of the EPO's search report. At the same time, the applicant shall designate specific Member States from European Member States and pay corresponding examination fees and designation fees. If 7 designation fees are paid, all the contracting countries of the European Patent Treaty can be designated, but the designation fees of the extension countries need to be paid separately.

(5) European patent authorization: EPO will issue the authorization notice after passing the examination. The applicant shall pay the authorization fee and submit the translation of the other two languages of the claim. In addition, it is necessary to check whether the translation of the priority certification document has been submitted. After the above work is completed, the European patent is officially authorized and the authorization certificate is issued.

(6) In force in European Member States. Generally, after receiving the authorization notice, the applicant must decide to select the effective country from the list of designated countries, and notify the European Patent Office (EPO) in which countries the patent will become effective. According to the regulations of each effective country, it is generally necessary to translate all the contents of this European patent into the language of that country and submit it to the effective country for registration so that this European patent can take effect in that country. Generally, European member states require that the translation work be completed within three months from the authorization announcement and take effect in all countries.

(7) After completing the work that takes effect in different countries, the applicants have patents in different countries. They are independent of each other, and each one needs to pay an annual fee.