ed, and the applicant completes the formal procedures required for grant in the relevant jurisdiction (e.g. paying a grant fee), the applicant will be granted a patent. It should be noted, however, that further steps are generally required to ensure the patent maintains legal effect. For example, maintenance fees are payable in most jurisdictions, and for European patents it is necessary to separately validate the patent in most of the different European countries.
In proceedings at the European Patent Office, if the Examiner(s) decide the application should be refused, the applicant will generally be provided with an opportunity to present their case in person at a hearing at the patent office, if this has been requested. If the applicant is still unable to persuade the Examiner(s) a patent should be granted, the application will be refused (rejected). However, the applicant will normally have an opportunity to file an appeal against the refusal. The application will then be reconsidered by an Appeal Board who may decide to order the grant of a patent or to finally refuse the application.
Search and examination procedures for obtaining a European patent
Search and examination are formally separate procedures in the European patent system. However, the distinction has become blurred in recent years.
A search fee must be paid when the application is filed. The results of the search are sent to the applicant in a Search Report, typically one to three years later. The Search Report is accompanied by an Opinion setting out objections to the application.
The Search Report is published with the application if it is ready in time, but is otherwise published later. If the applicant wishes to proceed with the application they then have 6 months to request examination and pay the fee, and comment on any objections. The applicant is required to respond to the search Opinion which accompanies the Search Report.
A first Examination Report will typically issue within a year or two and give an applicant four months to respond. The number of rounds of Examination Report and response is not fixed in the European system. However, only one or two rounds might be allowed before the application is refused (possibly after oral proceedings, if this has been requested).
If the Examiner(s) decides a patent may be granted, translations of the claims into French and German must be filed and fees for grant paid. It is then necessary to take additional steps to bring the patent into effect in most of the European countries that are signed up to the European patent system. This typically involves filing a translation of some or all of the patent into the local language.
The overall timescale for obtaining a European patent might typically be between 3 and 6 years, but can easily take longer.
Search and examination procedures for obtaining a United States patent
Search and examination procedures are combined in the United States and fees for search and examination must both be paid when the application is filed. A first Examination Report will typically issue within two or three years and set out both the prior art found in the search and any objections. The applicant will be given three months to respond.
The number of rounds of Examination Report and response in the United States is more fixed. Typically an applicant will have two opportunities to overcome any objections but will then need to pay additional fees to continue examination.
If the Examiner(s) decides a patent may be granted a grant fee must be paid.
The overall timescale for obtaining a United States patent might typically be between 3 and 5 years, but can be longer.