Key to the European Patent Convention 2005

The case law of the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) in respect of the European Patent Convention (EPC) has reached such proportions that is becoming increasingly difficult for users of the Convention to locate relevant decisions. The essential taks of Key to the EPC is to remedy this situation, thereby providing a better update facility as well as offering improved availability in the three official languages of the EPO. The primary aim is not to render the content of the decisions, nor offer comment on them, but to make them easier to find. To this end, the decisions are assigned to specific key words from the text of the EPC with which users are highly familiar. This fundamental principle can be transferred easily to many collections of data. It is especially suitable for implementation in electronic media with intelligent user interfaces. Key to the EPC is therefore made available to users in the three official languages in printed form, and will be available on electronic data carriers and via data transfer. Users will include in particular patent lawyers, patent assessors, qualified representatives, experts in patent departments and patent offices as well as candidates for the European Qualifying Examination for Professional Representatives.