The Federated European Patent Register is a European Patent Office (EPO) service that provides information regarding the legal status of EU patents after the grant procedure. It was launched in 2015 and can be consulted online here.
At present, 34 European Patent Organisation member states (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, United Kingdom, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, Macedonia, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Sweden, Slovenia, Slovakia and Turkey), one extension state (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and one validation state (Moldova) provide the 'deep linking service' (ie, a direct link to their national patent registers).
Deep linking has been available for some countries since 2012 via the Patent Register's 'legal status' tab before the Federated European Patent Register was launched. It provides quicker and easier access to the websites of national patent offices. This makes it easier to obtain up-to-date information on the status of patents directly from national registers.
Since each European Patent Organisation member state has its own specific online service, data obtained from national registers may change from country to country. Nonetheless, all European Patent Organisation member states provide at least basic information regarding the status of EU patents in their jurisdiction (ie, whether they have been validated or not).
The decisions of national courts or the EPO opposition and appeal divisions regarding the validity of patents cannot always be obtained from national registers and further searches for such information may be necessary.
The second phase of the Federated European Patent Register is the federated retrieval system. Not all European Patent Organisation member states that provide deep linking also provide federated retrieval (just 29 member states and one extension state).
If the designated state provides deep linking but no federated retrieval, that state will not be listed on the Federated European Patent Register. Instead, a link to the relevant national patent register will be provided.
Federated retrieval provides details of the following patent information:
- status;
- application number;
- publication number;
- proprietor;
- invalidation date;
- enforcement date;
- when renewal fees were last paid; and
- when records were last updated.
Some national registers also include supplementary protection certificate data, which is accessible via a hyperlink.
Although there is room for further improvement, the Federated European Patent Register provides quick and easy access to the basic post-grant legal status of EU patents directly at the information source.
For further information on this topic please contact Oya Yalvaç at Deris Attorney At Law Partnership by telephone (+90 212 252 6122) or email ([email protected]). The Deris Attorney At Law Partnership website can be accessed at www.deris.com.tr.
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