The European Patent Convention established a European Patent Office in Munich, Germany, to which most European Countries belong. Permissible languages of the procedure are English, French and German. A European Patent Application can be filed directly or based on a one year Paris Convention priority with the European Patent Office or with the Patent Office of a member country. A patent application is first searched and a European Search Report is issued. The applicant can respond to the European Search Report with an Amendment of the application. Then an examination of patentability follows, where the submitted claims have to be found new and unobvious. After the application has been found patentable, a nine months period follows during which third parties can file an opposition. After the opposition is taken care of, the European Patent issues in the member countries designated in the application. Maintenance fees have to be paid to the designated member countries.
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