This pilot project introduced the students to epoline® Register Plus and WebRegMT by way of a presentation and live demonstrations, and familiarised them with basic search and monitoring options.
epoline® Register Plus gives access to bibliographic, procedural and legal status data on European patent applications. It also enables users to view the original published patent files online.
epoline® WebRegMT is the EPO's free Web Register Monitoring Tool. It can be used to monitor European Patent Register data and, if required, to receive e-mail alerts on any new developments in the European patent grant procedure for up to 250 cases.
The final, hands-on part of the workshops gave students the opportunity to try out the electronic services themselves and learn how to retrieve the desired documents quickly and easily.
To follow-up on the workshops, the participants were also introduced to Register Plus e-learning, available at www.epoline.org under "Tutorials".
The feedback given at the end of these workshops has encouraged epoline® to look at extending the pilot to a larger project in European universities next year.
For further information:
Alex Surmann - epoline® Brand Manager
EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE
Patentlaan 2
2280HV Rijswijk (ZH), Netherlands
Email: asurmann@epo.org
Tel: 3-170-340-4772
Mob: 3-164-272-5109
Fax: 3-170-340-4237
epoline® Events: The European Patent Office epoline® Annual Conference 2005
Date: 23 -24 November 2005
Venue: Athenaeum InterContinental Athens; 89-93 Syngrou Avenue; 117 45 Athens, Greece
Registration for journalists: http://www.isc-europe.com/workshop_03.php
Editor's note:
EPO:
The European Patent Office grants European patents for the contracting states to the European Patent Convention (EPC), which was signed in Munich on 5 October 1973 and entered into force on 7 October 1977. It is the executive body of the European Patent Organisation, an intergovernmental body set up under the EPC, whose members are the EPC contracting states. The activities of the EPO are supervised by the Organisation's Administrative Council, composed of delegates from these states. See http://www.european-patent-office.org.
epoline®:
The brand name given to a number of electronic products and services developed by the EPO for the users of the European patent system. These products and services provide a secure, integrated environment for electronic communication between the EPO, applicants, their representatives and the national patent offices of the contracting states. Most significantly, epoline® services provide for on-line filing, fee payment and management of deposit accounts, file inspection, and Register enquiries. They offer major advantages over traditional, paper-based transactions in that they provide instant feedback in the form of status information and immediate confirmation of communications to the Office while reducing clerical work and paper handling costs. Online file inspection and the European register of patents are important tools for the interested public and have been designed to increase the visibility of the patenting process in general and the transparency of the European patent grant procedure. See http://www.epoline.org.
EPO Member States:
The following states are currently members of the European Patent Organisation: Austria; Belgium; Republic of Bulgaria; Switzerland; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Germany; Greece (Hellenic Republic); Denmark; Republic of Estonia; Spain; Finland; France; United Kingdom; Hungary; Ireland; Iceland; Italy; Liechtenstein; Lithuania, Luxembourg; Monaco; Netherlands; Poland; Portugal; Republic of Romania; Sweden; Slovenia; Slovak Republic and Turkey.