The rigour of EPO's patentability criteria: An insight into the "induced withdrawals"

George Lazaridis and Bruno van Pottelsberghe de la Potter ()

No 07-007.RS, Working Papers CEB from ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles

Abstract: The EPO traditionally grants at least 60% of all patent applications, the rest being either withdrawn (30-35 %) or refused (5%). This paper provides quantitative evidence suggesting that up to 54% of all patent withdrawals could be considered as induced by the work of EPO examiners, and hence may be taken as a more appropriate indicator of the rigour of the EPO. “Induced withdrawals” and refusals occur for up to 23% of all applications at the EPO. This share varies according to 1) the route chosen for an EPO filing; 2) the technological field that is considered; and 3) the country of residence of the assignee. The number of claims only slightly affects the share of withdrawals. However, on average, two additional claims induce an additional communication from the EPO, which in turn prolongs the procedural duration by an additional year.

Keywords: European Patent Office; grant; patent filing; induced withdrawals; claims; communications; examination procedure. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 19 p.
Date: 2007
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eec, nep-ino, nep-ipr, nep-pr~ and nep-law
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (19)

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Journal Article: The rigour of EPO's patentability criteria: An insight into the "induced withdrawals" (2007)
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