1、 Process Overview

2、 Stage description

（1） Application stage

1. Entry deadline:

① Priority is granted for 31 months from the earlier priority date

② No priority, 31 months from the date of PCT international application

③ If the 31 month deadline is missed, remedies can be obtained through further processing within 2 months from the date of receipt of the EPO notice of loss of rights

2. Required documents:

① Official languages: English, German, French

② If the PCT international application text is not in the official language mentioned above, text translation is required

3. Required information and issues to consider:

① PCT International Application Day

② PCT International Application Number

③ Priority information

④ Applicant name and address (consistent with the current applicant information in PCT)

⑤ Inventor's name and address

⑥ Priority for Chinese applications, providing search results for priority applications

⑦ Proof of sequence list or biological treasure also needs to be provided

⑧ Is it necessary to conduct a substantive review

⑨ Do we need to speed up

⑩ Designated extension country and effective country

4. Member States (38 countries, mandatory designation, only one designation fee required)

5. Extension countries (2, optional designation, one country, one designated fee)

6. Effective countries (4, optional designation, one country, one designation fee)

7. Submit application

8. Request for substantive review

Deadline for substantive examination: 6 months from the date of publication of the international search report;

31 months from the early priority date

9. Accelerate the process

① Early processing: The EPO will only begin processing applications after 31 months have passed. If the applicant wishes for early processing by the EPO, they can submit an early processing request to expedite the process.

② Waivers: Applicants can also achieve the goal of speeding up by giving up active modifications

10. Proactively modify

After submission, the official will issue a notice on whether to make active modifications, and applicants can submit active modifications within months.

（2） Announcement stage

1. Public Notice

If there is no formal defect issue, or if the defect issue pointed out by the official is overcome through response, EPO will issue a notice of the publication date and publication number, informing when this application will be published.

2. Temporary protection, registered in Hong Kong

After the European application is made public, it can be registered in Hong Kong once every 6 months from the date of publication.

（3） Search phase

1. Partial search report

When there is a singularity issue, the official will issue a "partial search report".

Partial search reports will be accompanied by temporary opinions issued by the examiner regarding the first set of rights that have been searched. These temporary opinions are for reference only and the applicant does not need to provide a written response to them.

The applicant requests the examiner to pay the corresponding search fees within 2 months when conducting searches on other claim groups. The examiner is requested to conduct searches on the claim groups that have already paid the search fees.

Subsequently, the applicant will receive an extended European search report.

2. Expand European Search Report

Supplementary European Search Report

Supplementary European search report

European Search Opinion

European search Report

EESR=Supplementary European Search Report European Search Opinion

On the basis of international search reports, EPO will conduct supplementary searches, issue supplementary European search reports, and attach European search opinions.

Response deadline: Approximately one month after the retrieval report is published, a notice of whether to continue the application will be sent, and six months from the date of publication of the notice

3. Supplement European search report and European search opinion

4. Do you want to continue applying?

（4） Review stage

Conduct substantive examination of the application during the examination stage

Main terms: Article 54

ARTICLE 56

ARTICLE 57

Deadline: Designated deadline, 4 months, 2 months

（5） Authorization stage

Notice of Authorization Intent, Authorization Announcement, Certificate

① When meeting the authorization requirements, EPO will issue a notice of intent to grant, which will be accompanied by the text of the proposed patent to be granted

② Response deadline

4 months from the date of delivery of this notice

③ Reply to matters

If the applicant has no modification suggestions for the proposed patent text, provide two additional official language translations of the proposed patent claims and the authorization announcement fee

If the applicant has any modification suggestions for the proposed patent text, provide the modification and reason statement.

• Whether to divide the cases

Afterwards, an authorization announcement will be made and a patent certificate will be issued

（6） Effective stage

Handle the effective procedures

① Effective country

Select effective country based on demand

② Deadline

Three months from the date of authorization announcement

③ File

Prepare official or designated language translations of authorized claims and/or specifications based on the effective country

According to the London Agreement, common effective countries such as Germany, Switzerland, France, and the United Kingdom do not require translation

④ Objection period: 9 months from the date of announcement

3、 Practical Focus