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

George Lazaridis () and Bruno van Pottelsberghe de la Potterie
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George Lazaridis: European Patent Office - EPO, München.

No 07-007.RS, Working Papers CEB from Université Libre de Bruxelles, Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Centre Emile Bernheim (CEB)

Abstract: The EPO traditionally grants at least 60% of all patent applications, the rest being either withdrawn (30-35 %) or refused (5%).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)
JEL-codes: K1 K3 L1 O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eec, nep-ino, nep-ipr and nep-law
Date: Written
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http://www.solvay.edu/EN/Research/Bernheim/documents/wp07007.pdf First version, 2007

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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sol:wpaper:07-007

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