喜大普本！欧专局终于打开了获取中国优先权申请检索结果的信息通道

根据欧洲专利局局长安东尼奥·坎普诺斯的决定，自2021年7月1日起，对于首次申请在中国并以该申请为优先权申请欧洲专利的，申请人将不需要再根据《欧洲专利公约实施细则》第141（1）条规则提交优先权检索结果副本。

对于《欧洲专利公约实施细则》第141（1）和（2）条及第70b（1）和（2）条的规定 ，欧洲专利局在官方通告（OJ EPO 2021 A38）中声明“欧洲专利局应在欧洲专利申请的文件中包括《欧洲专利公约实施细则》第141（1）条规则中提及的检索结果副本，若首次申请在中国并以该申请为优先权申请欧洲专利的，可免除申请人提交前述检索结果副本的义务”。

该决定适用于所有主张中国优先权且在该决定生效之日尚未根据《欧洲专利公约实施细则》第70b（1）条规定发出要求提交检索结果通知的欧洲专利申请。

这一重大新措施的施行，将进一步简化中国申请人的欧洲专利申请流程，也将降低申请的成本。

更多信息请参阅 EPO官方通告。

European Applications claiming Chinese priority exempting from filing search results

As from 01 July 2021, following the decision of the EPO’s President António Campinos, all Applicants claiming the priority of a first filing made in the Peopleʹs Republic of China will be exempted from filing a copy of the search results under Rule 141(1) EPC.Applicants claiming a Chinese priority will now be exempted from filing a copy of the prior art search results

The OJ EPO 2021, A38 states that, with regards to Rules 141(1) and (2) and 70b(1) and (2) of the European Patent Convention, “the European Patent Office shall include in the file of a European patent application a copy of the search results referred to in Rule 141(1) EPC, thus exempting the applicant from filing said copy, where the priority of a first filing made in the Peopleʹs Republic of China is claimed”.

This decision will apply to all European patent applications claiming a Chinese priority for which an invitation under Rule 70b(1) EPC has not yet been dispatched.

This new important implementation will further simply the prosecutions of European Patent Applications for Chinese Applicant, leading also to a reduction of the prosecution costs.

For more information, please refer to the official EPO decision.