European Patent Office goes for quality over quantity

The 2008 annual report of the European Patent Office has an interesting section in it: Quality over quantity: on course to raise the bar:

A portfolio of measures set to launch in the spring of 2010 will raise the bar on the quality of patents while simultaneously improving the efficiency of the granting process. These steps will better protect inventors who turn to the European Patent Office and, at the same time, see the EPO grant patents only for innovations having sufficient inventive merit and meeting the needs of society.

This programme of measures has been designed with three aims in mind: to secure a clear scope for the search at the beginning of the procedure and thereby build on solid foundations; to save time in the application process by reducing the procedural steps through which inventors and the EPO must pass; and, ultimately, to increase the chances of worthy applicants being granted robust patents.

The stated reason for this new initiative is that:

While the volume of applications the EPO has to examine has been on an upward trend, the same cannot be said of their quality. Applications that are inconsistent with European Patent Convention (EPC) standards, the many procedural steps through which they must pass - and the legal uncertainties that sometimes result - have all engendered a backlog at the EPO and a rethink of quality management.

EPO wants to ensure that "resources are not squandered on systematically avoidable procedural matters and that the balance between the teaching of the patent specification and the benefits of private monopoly is redressed."

Here are some of the proposal changes:

(1) Clarification of the scope of protection sought prior to search. A cap on the number of independent claims per application and the opportunity for the examiner to have the claims clarified before searching will help examiners perform a more focused search - and reduce the risk of missing an important document.

(2) Mandatory response to the written opinion issued with the search report. This reply from applicants, required before entering examination, will allow them six months to research and justify any issues raised in the written opinion.

(3) One opportunity to file voluntary amendments. Once in possession of the written opinion and the search report, applicants will be granted only one chance to make amendments of their own volition. This will focus attention and activity earlier in the examination process and reduce the average number of communications required up to grant.

(4) Mandatory provision of the basis for amendments. Since applicants are better placed than anyone else to outline the basis for amendments, they are now obliged to clearly identify any changes they seek.

It looks like EPO is trying to get ahead of the problem that many feel has plagued the USPTO.