1. European Patent Office The lifecycle of a patent application Bazna 15 March 2007

2. 2 Location Utrecht, September 1997 The European Patent Office Getting started Filing online Paying fees Searching applications Monitoring applications Online Services Contact Getting started

3. 3 Filing online Paying fees Searching applications Monitoring applications Online Services Contact The European Patent Office The invention.... Mr Daniel Albertus Jozef Dijs, an inventor working for Sarah Lee in Utrecht, comes up with a brilliant idea for an assembly to be used in a xxxxxx machine...

4. 4 Filing online Getting started Filing online Paying fees Searching applications Monitoring applications Online Services Contact The European Patent Office... details of the invention are discussed with Patent Attorney Henry T. Lord and it is decided to file a patent application...

5. 5 Filing online Getting started Filing online Paying fees Searching applications Monitoring applications Online Services Contact The European Patent Office Henry Lord and his assistant prepare the patent application and submit it to the Dutch patent office.

6. 6 Filing online Getting started Filing online Paying fees Searching applications Monitoring applications Online Services Contact The European Patent Office However, Mr Dijs works for a large multinational, and they decide to also protect Mr Dijs' invention in Europe, US, Japan, Australia... Therefore Sara Lee decide to file a European application via Epoline on-line filing, claiming priority from the original Dutch filing.

7. 7 Filing online Getting started Filing online Paying fees Searching applications Monitoring applications Online Services Contact The European Patent Office Mr. Lord receives an instant receipt containing the application number and the date of receipt

8. 8 Paying fees Getting started Filing online Paying fees Searching applications Monitoring applications Online Services Contact The European Patent Office Last-minute payments made by Mr. Lord using epoline ® Online Fee Payment

9. 9 Searching applications The European Patent Office f Getting started Filing online Paying fees Searching applications Monitoring applications Online Services Contact After twelve months the application is published via the European Publication server, Esp@cenet and it also pops up in Register Plus 3 sources of patent information

10. 10 Monitoring applications The European Patent Office A link to Register Plus is provided where the latest status can be checked Getting started Filing online Paying fees Searching applications Monitoring applications Online Services Contact

11. 11 Monitoring applications The European Patent Office Further e-mail alerts confirm the grant... Getting started Filing online Paying fees Searching applications Monitoring applications Online Services Contact

12. 12 Monitoring applications The European Patent Office Eventually, Sarah Lee inventor Mr Dijs has to be informed the patent is revoked... Getting started Filing online Paying fees Searching applications Monitoring applications Online Services Contact

13. 13 Monitoring applications The European Patent Office Is Mr Dijs very sad ? No, the company made a lot of money and his "invention" makes millions of people happy every morning... Getting started Filing online Paying fees Searching applications Monitoring applications Online Services Contact

14. 14 Getting started The European Patent Office And no need to worry, Mr Dijs has another invention up his sleeve, and after thorough search in espacenet ® for prior art...... it is decided to file another European patent application using epoline ® Online Filing Getting started Filing online Paying fees Searching applications Monitoring applications Online Services Contact

15. 15 Online Services The European Patent Office Online Filing Online Fee Payment European Publication Server Register Plus espacenet ® WebRegMT Getting started Filing online Paying fees Searching applications Monitoring applications Online Services Contact

16. Thank you for your attention however VA URMA