Articles Flashcards
Article 70
Authentic text of a European patent application or European patent
(1) The text of a European patent application or a European patent in the language of the proceedings shall be the authentic text in any proceedings before the EPO in any Contracting State.
(2) If, however, the European patent application has been filed in a language which is not an official language of the European Patent Office, that text shall be the application as filed within the meaning of this Convention.
(3) Any Contracting State may provide that a translation into one of its official languages, as prescribed by it according to this Convention, shall in that State be regarded as authentic, except for revocation proceedings, in the event of the European patent application or European patent in the language of the translation conferring protection which is narrower than that
conferred by it in the language of the proceedings.
(4) Any Contracting State which adopts a provision under paragraph 3:
(a) shall allow the applicant for or proprietor of the patent to file a corrected translation of the European patent application or European patent. Such corrected translation shall not have any legal effect until any conditions established by the Contracting State under Article 65, paragraph 2, or Article 67, paragraph 3, have been complied with;
(b) may prescribe that any person who, in that State, in good faith has used or has made effective and serious preparations for using an invention the use of which would not constitute infringement of the application or patent in the original translation, may, after the corrected translation takes effect, continue such use in the course of his business or for the needs thereof without payment.
Article 71
Transfer and constitution of rights
A European patent application may be transferred or give rise to rights for one or more of the designated Contracting States.
Designated Contracting Ctates definition:
Designated contracting states are the countries the applicant enters in the patent application at the time of filing as the ones in which protection is sought for the invention.
(I will use C.S. for contracting states)
Article 72
Assignment
An assignment of a European patent application shall be made in writing and shall require the signature of the parties to the contract.
Article 73
Contractual licensing
A European patent application may be licensed in whole or in part for the whole or part of the territories of the designated Contracting States.
Article 74:
Law applicable
Unless this Convention provides otherwise, the European patent application as an object of property shall, in each designated Contracting State and with effect for such State, be subject to the law applicable in that State to national patent applications.
Article 75
Filing of a European patent application
(1) a EP application may be filed:
(a) with the EPO, or
(b) if the law of a C.S. so permits, and subject to Article 76 P1, with the central industrial property office or other competent authority of that State. Any application filed in this way shall have the same effect as if it had been filed on the same date with the EPO.
(2) P1 shall not preclude the application of legislative or regulatory provisions which, in any C.S.
(a) govern intentions which, owing to the nature of their subject matter, may not be communicated abroad without the prior authorisation of the competent authorities of that State, or
(b) prescribe that any application is to be filed initially with a national authority, or make direct filing with another authority subject to prior authorisation.
Article 76
European divisional applications
(1) A European divisional application shall be filed directly with the European Patent Office in accordance with the Implementing Regulations. It may be filed only in respect of subject-matter which does not extend beyond the content of the earlier application as filed; in so far as this requirement is complied with, the divisional application shall be deemed to have been filed on the date of the filing of the earlier application and shall enjoy any right of priority.
(2) All the C.S. designated in the earlier application at the time of filing of a EP divisional application shall be deemed to be designated in the divisional application.
Article 77
Forwarding of European patent applications
(1) The central IP office of a C.S. shall forward the EPO any EP patent application filed with it or any other competent authority in that State, in accordance with the Implementing Regulations.
(2) A European patent application, the subject of which has been made secret, shall not be forwarded to the EPO.
(3) A EP application not forwarded to the EPO in due time shall be deemed to be withdrawn.
Article 78
Requirements of a European patent application
(1) A European patent application shall contain:
(a) a request for the grant of a European patent;
(b) a description of the invention;
(c) one or more claims;
(d) any drawings referred to in the description or the claims;
(e) an abstract,
and satisfy the requirements laid down in the Implementing Regulations.
A European patent application shall be subject to the payment of the filing fee and the search fee.
If the filing fee or the search fee is not paid in due time, the application shall be deemed to be withdrawn.
Article 79
Designation of Contracting States
(1) All the Contracting States party to this Convention at the time of filing of the European patent application shall be deemed to be designated in the request for grant of a European patent.
(2) The designation of a Contracting State may be subject to the payment of a designation fee.
Article 80
Date of filing
The date of filing a European patent application shall be the date on which the requirements laid down in the Implementing Regulations are fulfilled.
Article 81
Designation of the inventor
The European patent application shall designate the inventor.
If the applicant is not the inventor or is not the sole inventor, the designation shall contain a statement indicating the origin of the right to the European patent.
Article 82
Unity of the invention
The European patent application shall relate to one invention only or to a group of inventions so linked as to form a single general inventive concept.
Article 83
Disclosure of the invention
The European patent application shall disclose the invention in a manner that is sufficiently clear and complete for it to be carried out by a person skilled in the art.
Article 84
The claims shall define the matter for which the protection is sought. They shall be clear and concise and supported by the description.
Article 85
Abstract
The abstract shall serve the purpose of technical information only; it may not be taken into account for any other purpose, in particular for interpreting the scope of protection sought or applying Article 54, p 3.
Article 86
Renewal fees for the European patent application.
(1) Renewal fees for the European patent application shall be paid to the European Patent Office in accordance with the Implementing Regulations. These fees shall be due in respect of the third year and each subsequent year, calculated from the date of filing of the application. If a renewal fee is not paid in due time, the application shall be deemed to be withdrawn.
(2) The obligation to pay renewal fees shall terminate with the payment of the renewal fee due in respect of the year in which the mention of the grant of the European patent is published in the European Patent Bulletin.
Article 87
Priority right
(1) Any person who has duly filed, in or for
(a) any State party to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property or
(b) any member of the World Trade Organization,
an application for a patent, a utility model, or a utility certificate, or his successor in title, shall enjoy, for the purpose of filing a European patent application in respect of the same invention, a right of priority during a period of 12 months from the date of filing the first application.
(2) Every filing that is equivalent to a regular national filing under the national law of the State where it was made or under bilateral or multilateral agreements, including this Convention, shall be recognised as giving rise to a right of priority.
(3) A regular national filing shall mean any filing that is sufficient to establish the date on which the application was filed, whatever the outcome of the application may be.
(4) A subsequent application in respect of the same subject-matter as a previous first application and filed in or for the same State shall be considered as the first application for the purposes of determining priority, provided that, at the date of filing the subsequent application, the previous application has been withdrawn, abandoned, or refused without being open to public inspection and without leaving any rights outstanding, and has not served as a basis of claiming a right of priority. The previous application may not thereafter serve as a basis for claiming a right of priority.
(5) If the first filing has been made with an industrial property authority which is not subject to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property or the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, p-14 shall apply that if that authority, according to a communication issued by the President of the EPO, recognises that a first filling made with the EPO gives rise to a right of priority under conditions and with effects equivalent to those laid down in the Paris Convention.
Article 88
Claiming priority
(1) An applicant desiring to take advantage of the priority of a previous application shall file a declaration of priority and any other document required, in accordance with the Implementing Regulations.
(2) Multiple priorities may be claimed in respect of a European patent application, notwithstanding the fact that they originated in different countries. Where appropriate, multiple priorities are claimed, time limits which run from the date of priority shall run from the earliest date of priority.
(3) If one or more priorities are claimed in respect of a European patent application, the right of priority shall cover only those elements of the European patent application which are included in the application/s whose priority is claimed.
(4) If certain elements of the invention for which priority is claimed do not appear among the claims formulated in previous application, priority may nonetheless be granted, provided that the documents of the previous application as a whole specifically disclose such elements.
Article 89
Effect of priority right
The right of priority shall have the effect that the date of priority shall count as the date of filing of the European patent application for the purposes of A.54 p2-3 and A.60 p2.
