The "Guide for applicants" aims to provide companies, inventors and their representatives with an outline of the procedure for granting European patents, offering practical advice to smooth the way to a European patent.

This thoroughly revised and expanded new edition (April 2004) of the first part of the Guide describes and explains the direct route to a European patent and the associated procedures. The second part is devoted to the Euro-PCT route (How to get a European patent, Guide for applicants - Part 2, Euro-PCT, 2nd edition, April 2002, see point 8 below).