The European Patent Convention (EPC) originally known as the Convention on the Grant of European Patents, is an international treaty that establishes a unified framework for obtaining and protecting patents across multiple European countries. Its goal is to simplify the process of filing and monitoring patents by allowing inventors to seek protection in several European countries through a single application.
The EPC was established in 1973 and is managed by the European Patent Organisation (EPO), an independent intergovernmental organization. It currently has 39 member states, making it one of the most extensive patent systems in the world.
One of the main advantages of the EPC is the ability to file a single patent application that will be examined and granted by the EPO, then validated in the countries designated by the applicant. This significantly reduces the costs and procedures for obtaining patent protection in multiple European countries.
The EPC also sets common criteria for the patentability of inventions, such as novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability. These criteria ensure a degree of uniformity in the evaluation of patent applications across all EPC member states.
The European Patent Convention and the European patent system it has created provide an efficient and consistent means of obtaining and protecting patents in multiple European countries, thereby facilitating innovation and economic development in the region.