AIDB is a member of the SACEPO/PDI, a subcommittee of the European Patent Office’s advisory body known as SACEPO (Standing Advisory Committee before the European Patent Office), dedicated to patent documentation and information.
The SACEPO Committee was established in 1978 at the initiative of the first president of the European Patent Office (EPO), so that those working in the field would have the opportunity to actively participate in the development of the European patent system.
SACEPO members include representatives from industry, patent professionals, and recognized experts in the field of industrial property who are appointed directly by the President of the EPO.
Documents related to the SACEPO/PDI meetings are available in this section.
While the work of the first subcommittee typically focuses on issues related to patenting in general, the granting of European patents, policy matters, procedures, and the interpretation of rules and regulations—and is attended primarily by IP consultants—this subcommittee deals specifically with EPO services in our sector. These include, for example, the Esp@cenet and Inpadoc databases, the Epoline service—which provides information from Register Plus on the status of European patents—the Esp@ce series of CD-ROMs, the OPS (Open Patent Services) system, and information services on Asian patents.
For more details, please visit http://www.epo.org/about-us/office/sacepo.html.
Every year, a meeting is held at the Vienna headquarters, during which thethe EPO presents a report on the status of work carried out in response to feedback received at the previous meeting and takes note of new user requests regarding the services provided and the implications that the EPO’s decisions on patent publication, data compilation, etc., may have on literature searches. Since 2006, AIDB has also been a member of this subcommittee and participates in it with its own representative.
