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epoline®: bringing patents closer to the public

December 17, 2003

Patent professionals from all over Europe came together in Barcelona on 9-11th December at the second epoline® Annual Conference to learn about the latest developments in on-line patent management and information dissemination.

The conference consisted of three parallel sessions: hands on training for both epoline® on-line patent management and esp@cenet® patent information conducted separately in English, French and German by experienced EPO tutors, seminars on the patent procedure and presentations on the theme "Cutting Edge Issues in Intellectual Property Today".

The conference showed delegates how the epoline® on-line patent filing and management processes as well as the esp@cenet on-line patent information service are setting new technical standards worldwide in order to make the patent procedure more efficient, transparent and cost efficient.

Dr. Ingo Kober, President of the European Patent Office, said that "epoline® enhances transparency and accessibility of the European patent system for applicants and the public, provides an alternative to all paper-based transactions in that system, and establishes a single point access to the global patent system, following the principle of "Draft your application once, file it everywhere"."

Amongst the many interesting presentations, Mr. Thierry Sueur, Vice President, Intellectual Property and Vice President, European & International Affairs of Air Liquide, focused on the role of patents within small and medium size enterprises.

On a related point, Mr. Jörg Machek, Director, the European Patent Office, explored the requirements for patenting computer software implemented inventions under the European Patent Convention, while recent developments in biotech patent law was the topic of the presentation given by Mr. Rainer Moufang, Member, Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office.

Under the title "Intellectual property: access to medicines", Mrs. Ruth Mayne, Policy Adviser at Oxfam, examined the implications of global patent rules for access to medicines and R&D, as well as the policy implications.

Information Society Communications (ISC Ltd)