Patents
Designation of inventor changes at the EPO
February 24, 2021
The EPO’s requirements for the designation of the inventor have changed. The EPO will also no longer inform inventors that they have been designated.
From 1 April 2021, applicants will not need to specify the full address of the inventor when filing a designation of inventor. Instead, only the country and place of residence must be submitted. The EPO have stated that they will accept an indication of the inventor’s country and place of employment or business instead of the inventor’s country and place of residence.
The place of residence (or of employment or business) can be in the form of the city or town where the inventor permanently resides (or works or has their place of business) together with the postal code.
Additionally, the EPO will no longer send copies of the designation of inventor to inventors who have been designated, as has been the practise until now.
Stephen Jackson
Associate