The celebration of the 50th anniversary of the European Patent Convention was held on October 5th, 2023 in Munich, the Hague and Vienna, where the premises of the European Patent Organization (EPO) are situated. It concerns an exceptional jubilee that celebrates the European unity in the field of patent protection that has already lasted for half a century. In addition to Antonio Campinos, President of the EPO, the participants were addressed also by three statesmen from European countries: Ruman Radev, President of Bulgaria, Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of Germany and William Alexander, King of Holland. The congratulations, on behalf of the jubilee, were also addressed by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
The European Patent Organization has passed a long way from the institution that in 1873 had only 100 employees to the most important regional organization protecting inventions and employing today more than 6000 people. For these fifty years, the work of the European Patent Organization inspired numerous European countries to arrange their national legislation and their practice in a manner that Europe works harmoniously in this field implementing the same principles of protection. It may be even more important that the European Patent Organization has established, for the last half a century, a system which enabled to the inventors’ legal security and predictability of protection of their patents. Serbia has been a part of that family since October 2010 and since then, it has had exceptional cooperation with the European Patent Organization. It is of vital interest for our country for that cooperation to continue and further develop in the best interest of our inventors and other creative people.
Take a look at the statement of Vladimir Marić, Director of the Intellectual Property Office, on the occasion of this event on the EPO website.
The whole event can be seen at the following link.