The EPO announced that it has extended its Global Dossier service to include data from the Japan Patent Office (JPO) and the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO). The announcement came at the Fédération Internationale des Counseils en Propriété Intellectuelle (FICPI) World Congress, which is taking place in Cape Town, South Africa this week.
The project is an initiative by the EPO, JPO, KIPO, China’s State Industrial Property Office (SIPO) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), collectively referred to as the IP5 offices, who agreed to make available information produced by each office in a family of patent applications (applications for the same invention filed at multiple offices). The aim is to simplify access to important information pertaining to these dossiers both for users and the public, and to enhance the transparency of the patent system.
Speaking at the launch, EPO President Benoît Battistelli said: “With this addition to the EPO’s global dossier service, the EPO has once more demonstrated its commitment not only to working with the IP5 offices but to taking the lead in leveraging the benefits of this co-operation to deliver top quality services to users worldwide.”
The first EPO Global Dossier was launched last June with European and Chinese dossier content and data from the USPTO is expected to be added in the second half of 2015. The information is available free of charge in Espacenet and the European Patent Register.
Source:EPO
