Article 127 - OJ 2001, 249

Notice from the European Patent Office dated 28 May 2001 about Internet access to the Online European Patent Register

- OJ 2001, 249 -

As part of its epoline® project, the Office has expanded its patent information services to include access to the Online European Patent Register¹ via the Internet.

Users of the European patent system can now access the Online European Patent Register (hereinafter referred to as the "Online Register") for procedural data on European patents and patent applications, as well as all PCT applications designating the EPO, under

www.european-patent-office.org/register

The Online Register contains data on all published European patent applications and international applications designating the EPO. As well as this bibliographic data, it also provides information about the grant procedure and the legal status of individual applications, from the date of publication to the grant of the patent, and about any opposition or appeal proceedings.

In addition to the data entered in the European Patent Register (Article 127, Rule 92 EPC), the Online Register also includes application and procedural data previously only accessible by way of the EPIDOS Register. Any data which are not part of the European Patent Register are not published in the European Patent Bulletin under Article 129(a) EPC.

The Online Register has a further advantage over EPIDOS (X.25 version) in that it can be searched using the following search criteria:

- Date of publication

- Priority date

- Filing date

- Inventor

- Opponent

- Representative

It also has a hyperlink to esp@cenet® which will enable users, with the aid of the publication number, to inspect published patent documents cited in search reports and examination or opposition proceedings.

More details about the content of the Online Register are available from the online help function.

Access to the Online Register via the Internet is free of charge.

The Online Register is normally available 24 hours a day, except for a short break between 05.00 and 05.05 hrs CET to refresh the data.

Information from the Online European Patent Register can be obtained by telephone from epoline® Customer Services:

epoline® Customer Services

European Patent Office

Patentlaan 2 NL - 2288 EE Rijswijk

Tel.: (+31-70) 340 4500

Fax: (+31-70) 340 4600

e-mail: epoline@epo.org

Internet: www.epoline.org

epoline® Customer Services can be contacted from Monday to Friday, 08.00 to 18.00 hrs.

User support is available in the EPO's three official languages (English, French and German).