TO PATENT PRACTIONERS

• Are you concerned about competitors' patents?
• Have you become aware of a published European patent application which may affect the business of your company or clients if the patent is ultimately granted?
• Do you need to know the outcome of the application?
• If so, ECL can be of assistance.

THE SERVICE

ECL can continuosly monitor the progress of a patent application on your behalf in two phases:

Phase 1 (pre-grant)

This will notify you of all important events up to and including grant, so that you may prepare to oppose if necessary.

Phase II (post-grant)

This will notify you of any oppositions filed and of the subsequent progress of such oppositions.

Monitoring is carried out by checking the European Patent Bulletin weekly and notifying you of events as they are published. Please note that events not reported in the European Patent Bulletin are not covered by our service. Thus we are not able to include responses filed by the applicant during prosecution, nor the issuance of examination reports after the first.

THE COST?

A bill will be sent to you on acknowledgement of your instructions (see Tariff Of Charges). All subsequent notifications in the appropriate phase are included in this initial and once-and-for-all charge.

HOW DO YOU INSTRUCT US?

Simply use our caveat request form to provide us with the publication number of the European patent or application* you wish us to monitor. We will do the rest.

You may also write, telephone, fax or e-mail us. Details available from the Contact Us page.

*INTERNATIONAL (PCT) APPLICATIONS

You may notify us of the International (WO) publication number of an application designating Europe and we will monitor the European application.

CITATION CHECK

Another service we offer is to check whether any patent less than 10 years old (including any member of its family) has been cited in the novelty search of a later European or International (WO) patent application.

NOTE: A citation check is included FREE at the termination of each caveat enquiry on the subject European patent application.

The greatest care is taken by ECL at all times in the performance of this caveat service, but the service is reliant on public records outside the control of ECL and ECL cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions which may arise in such records.