Co-operation

The EPO engages on quality with a wide variety of stakeholders. In addition to consulting and meeting with its users, quality is a key topic in discussions with member states of European Patent Organisation in fora such as the Administrative Council and the Technical and Operational Support Committee (TOSC).

The EPO also engages on quality with other offices internationally in multilateral fora such as the IP5 and also within the context of the PCT.

Bilateral co-operation on quality-related matters is also crucial and it brings real benefits to our users. In addition to the 44 countries in which EPO patents can be validated, there are an additional 42 countries where, through a reinforced partnership or Patent Prosecution Highway agreement, corresponding EPO searches and examination results are reused in the national/regional phase.

For more information, please see the Quality Report 2022.