EC Grants Adequacy Decision to European Patent Organisation
From Tuesday, innovative companies and public entities in the EU can transfer personal data to the European Patent Organisation without needing additional safeguards, the European Commission and EPO announced.
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The EC's finding that the EPO's level of data protection is equivalent to that of the EU is the first equivalency decision relating to an international organization, said Michael McGrath, commissioner for democracy, justice, the rule of law and consumer protection, and EPO President António Campinos.
The decision will support the digital transformation of the patent-granting process and make a "real difference" to entrepreneurs, researchers, national patent offices and inventors in the EU, McGrath said.
The EPO receives around 200,000 patent applications a year, he noted.