The European Patent Bulletin is a weekly
trilingual
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...
publication
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of the
European Patent Office
The European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the two organs of the European Patent Organisation (EPOrg), the other being the Administrative Council. The EPO acts as executive body for the organisation (EPO), generally issued every Wednesday. It contains "entries made in the
Register of European Patents, as well as other particulars, the publication of which is prescribed by
he_European_Patent_Convention_(EPC).html" ;"title="European_Patent_Convention.html" ;"title="he European Patent Convention">he European Patent Convention (EPC)">European_Patent_Convention.html" ;"title="he European Patent Convention">he European Patent Convention (EPC)or its implementation".
The European Patent Bulletin is published in German language, German, English language, English and French language, French, the three official languages of the EPO. The three texts coexist in the same issue of the bulletin. The European Patent Bulletin has been published
online
In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" ...
since January 2004.
Legal effect of mentions in the European Patent Bulletin
In the
European patent grant procedure, the mention of the publication of the European search report in the European Patent Bulletin marks the start of the six-
month period for filing the request for examination, paying the examination fee, paying the designation fees, and paying the extension fees.
At the end of the grant procedure, the decision to grant a European patent takes legal effect only from the day when the European Patent Bulletin mentions the grant. The publication of this mention in the European Patent Bulletin marks the start of the three-month period (or more in some countries, such as
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
) for supplying the translation of the text in which the European patent has been granted to each national patent office, in order to have an effective protection in each country.
The publication of this mention also marks the start of the nine-month period for giving notice of
opposition to the patent to the EPO.
During the opposition procedure, when the European patent is maintained in an amended form, the publication of the mention of maintenance of the European patent in the European Patent Bulletin marks the start of the three-month period (or more in some countries, such as Ireland) for supplying the translation of the text in which the European patent has been maintained to each national patent office, in order to have an effective protection in each country.
See also
*''
PCT Gazette''
*
List of intellectual property law journals
References
External links
European Patent Bulletinon the EPO web site
*
*
*
Archives since January 2, 2004- select a date - on the EPO web site (through the
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
)
* Relevant notices in the
Official Journal
** Changes in the European Patent Bulletin, OJ 1983, 45
** Amendments and additions to the European Patent Bulletin, OJ 1986, 6
** Amendments and additions to the European Patent Bulletin, OJ 1988, 3
{{European Patent Organisation
European Patent Organisation
Gazettes