Reporting Group on the reform of epi. Report on the online survey on future structure and activities of the epi

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1 Annex 1 Reporting Group on the reform of epi Report on the online survey on future structure and activities of the epi 1. PARTICIPATION We received responses from 38 member states. The highest proportion of responses were from Lithuania with 46.15% and 12 responses from 26 members. The lowest is 12.78% from Poland with 39 responses from 305. On absolute numbers, the highest number of responses originate from Germany with 580 from members, the lowest Monaco and Malta with 2 responses from 5 members. See as attachment A the full result by member states. In general, we have to say that the number of responses (19.6%) is a positive result and shows that the topic of the future of structure and activities of epi is of the interest of one fifth of our membership. Are you working in: a) free profession 60,0% 1289 b) in-house patent department 39,1% 840 c) other, e.g. government agency or Court 0,9% 20 answered question 2149 skipped question 0 Are you working in: a) free profession b) in-house patent department c) other, e.g. government agency or Court 1

2 1.289 responses come from the free profession (60%), 840 (39.1%) come from industry and 20 (0.9%) from other members of our profession (government agencies, courts, etc). How long have you been working as an European Patent Attorney? a) 1-2 years 10,2% 219 b) 3-5 years 16,9% 363 c) 6-10 years 24,3% 522 d) more than 10 years 48,6% 1045 answered question 2149 skipped question 0 How long have you been working as an European Patent Attorney? a) 1-2 years b) 3-5 years c) 6-10 years d) more than 10 years responses (48.6%) come from members who have more than 10 years of practice, 522 (24.3%) from members who have been in practice between 6 and 10 years and 27.1% for those being in practice between 1 and 5 years. Accordingly, a substantive proportion (72.9%) of the answers come from members with substantial experience. What is your main scientific background? a) mechanical engineering/physics 40,0% 860 b) chemistry, biology 39,6% 850 c) electronics, software engineering 17,0% 366 d) other 3,4% 73 answered question 2149 skipped question 0 2

3 What is your main scientific background? a) mechanical engineering/physics b) chemistry, biology c) electronics, software engineering d) other 40% of members replying originate from the fields of mechanical, engineering/physics and another 40% from chemistry/biology. 17% are from the fields of electronics and software engineering and 3.4 % from other fields. Have you been or are you a member of epi Council or an epi Committee? a) yes 15,6% 324 b) no 84,4% 1756 answered question 2080 skipped question 69 Have you been or are you a member of epi Council or an epi Committee? a) yes b) no 3

4 A great majority of respondents (84.4%) have never been involved in epi bodies (Council, Committees). Have you been or are you a member in an EQE examination Committee or have you been or are you involved as a tutor/speaker in an epi educational program? a) yes 10,9% 227 b) no 89,1% 1853 answered question 2080 skipped question 69 Have you been or are you a member in an EQE examination Committee or have you been or are you involved as a tutor/speaker in an epi educational program? a) yes b) no Also, a large majority of respondents (89.1%) have never been members of an EQE examination Committee nor have been involved as a tutor/speaker in an epi educational program. 4

5 A substantial majority (72.9%) of the respondents voted at the last epi 2014 elections. Did you vote at the last 2014 elections for members of Council? a) yes 72,9% 1517 b) no 27,1% 563 If not, why? 326 answered question 2080 skipped question 69 Did you vote at the last 2014 elections for members of Council? a) yes b) no Those who did not vote provided a number of reasons for not having done this. Inter alia, they had forgotten, did not have sufficient knowledge of the candidates to make a decision, were too busy or, found the voting process too complicated. 5

6 2. SUBSTANTIVE RESPONSES 2.1. To the question: Where do you see the benefits, if any, in being a member of the European Patent Institute? the main replies relate to the following: - Getting information about the profession and patent activities - Training in general, including EQE - Possibility to report to the EPO about problems and influence in eventual changes of practice - Getting reputation among the public - Possibilities of connection with other colleagues of other countries, networking - Having guidance on professional standards, common code of conduct - Possibility to lobby, to defend the interests of European patent attorneys - Participating in the harmonisation of patent law process Do you read epi information? a) I read occasionally articles in the epi Information 46,3% 927 b) I normally look into every issue of epi Information 51,8% 1038 c) I am not reading epi Information 1,9% 38 answered question 2003 skipped question 146 Do yo u re a d e p i info rma tio n? a) I read occasionally articles in the epi Information b) I normally look into every issue of epi Information c) I am not reading epi Information As can be seen 51,8% of the respondents normally look into every issue, while 46.6% read occasionally articles of this magazine 6

7 a) Reports from epi Committees and other epi activities c) Overview on epi structure and names of members e) Articles on international patent development g) Advertiseme nts for books and Journals 2.3. Which content of epi Information do you find most interesting? (you can choose more than one answer) a) Reports from epi Committees and other epi activities 40,0% 801 b) Reports from epi Council, Board or Presidium 22,9% 459 c) Overview on epi structure and names of members of epi institutions 12,6% 253 d) Articles on European Patent practice (e.g. on recent Board of Appeal decisions) 95,2% 1906 e) Articles on international patent developments (e.g. on new US Patent Law) 72,5% 1452 f) Announcements of seminars and events 34,8% 697 g) Advertisements for books and Journals 15,0% 301 h) Job offers advertisements 19,4% 389 answered question 2003 skipped question 146 Which content of epi Information do you find most interesting? (you can choose more than one answer) 100,0% 80,0% 60,0% 40,0% 20,0% 0,0% 95.2% replied that they prefer articles on European patent practice, 72.5% articles on international patent developments, 40% reports from epi Committees and other epi activities, 34.8% announcements of seminars and events, 22.9% reports from epi Council, Board or Presidium, 19.4% job offers, advertisements, and 12.6% overview on epi structure and names of members of different bodies. 7

8 2.4. How often have you visited the epi website during the last 6 months? a) Never 27,5% 550 b) 1-5 times 57,1% 1143 c) At least once per month 10,5% 210 d) At least once per week 2,3% 46 e) I did not know that epi has a webpage 2,7% 54 answered question 2003 skipped question 146 How often have you visited the epi website during the last 6 months? a) Never b) 1-5 times c) At least once per month d) At least once per week e) I did not know that epi has a webpage As can be seen 57.1% reply between 1 and 5 times, 27.5% never, 10.5% at least once per month, 2.3% at least once per week, while 2.7% did not know that epi has a website. 8

9 2.5. Do you find the new epi website useful? a) very useful 14,3% 286 b) partially useful 57,1% 1144 c) not very useful: epi website should contain more or other content 11,9% 238 d) functionality and structure of epi-website needs improvement (e.g. way of log-in 7,1% 142 e) I think epi does not need a comprehensive website 9,6% 193 answered question 2003 skipped question 146 Do you find the new epi website useful? a) very useful b) partially useful c) not very useful: epi website should contain more or other content d) functionality and structure of epiwebsite needs improvement (e.g. way of log-in e) I think epi does not need a comprehensive website It results that 57.1% replied that they find it partially useful, 14.3% very useful, 11.9% not very useful and, 9.6% think that epi does not need a comprehensive website Concerning the question, Which elements or contents would you like to see on the epi website? There are a number of replies that refer to the following issues: - Discussion blog for members - Updated information and articles on decisions, on changes in patent practice - Reports on the work of the Presidium, Board and Council - Information about epi and Amicus briefs - Search tools for locating epi documents and articles in epi information - Alerts on matters of concern to epi members, breaking news - Links to websites of national offices 9

10 - Information about the unitary patent and the unitary patent court - More information about seminars and other events - A direct link to the list of epi members - More information about Committee work 2.7. From your perspective, is epi a good instrument to trigger and support improvements of the European patent system, e.g. to the EPO, WIPO? a) yes 70,2% 1354 b) no 6,0% 116 c) I don t know; : 23,8% 459 Please provide reasons for your answer 602 answered question 1929 skipped question 220 From your perspective, is epi a good instrument to trigger and support improvements of the European patent system, e.g. to the EPO, WIPO? a) yes b) no c) I don t know; : As can be seen 70% of the answers were in favour of that idea, 6% were against and 23.8% did not have an opinion. 10

11 a) Educational activities directed to the patent c) Disciplinary matters e) Engaging in legislative processes concerning g) International collaboration and exchange of knowledge i) providing epi-members with timely information on 2.8. In which of the following areas do you believe epi should concentrate its efforts (you can choose more than one answer): a) Educational activities directed to the patent profession 73,9% 1425 b) Organisation and supervision of EQE 46,8% 902 c) Disciplinary matters 29,3% 565 d) Liaison with the European Patent Office 66,9% 1290 e) Engaging in legislative processes concerning patent law by trying to influence decision makers and 66,1% 1275 governments, e.g. EU-Commission, WIPO. f) Promotion of the role of Industrial Property in modern society 38,1% 735 g) International collaboration and exchange of knowledge with patent attorney associations in other countries or international organizations like 37,4% 722 BusinessEurope, AIPPI, AIPLA, etc. h) advertising patent profession to students and universities 17,0% 328 i) providing epi-members with timely information on recent developments in the European Patent system 74,5% 1438 j) Others (please specify) 1,7% 33 Other (please specify) 69 answered question 1929 skipped question 220 In which of the following areas do you believe epi should concentrate its efforts (you can choose more than one answer): 80,0% 70,0% 60,0% 50,0% 40,0% 30,0% 20,0% 10,0% 0,0% The replies show that 74.5% were in favour of providing epi members with timely information, 73.9% referred to educational activities followed by 66.9% referring to liaison with the European Patent Office, 66.1% referring to engaging in legislative processes, 46.8% were in favour of organisation and supervision of the EQE, 38% in favour of promotion of the role of industrial property and, 37.4% referring to international collaboration and exchange. 11

12 2.9. Do you feel that epi is doing a good job in protecting the interests of European Patent Attorneys, e.g. vis-a-vis the EPO? a) yes 48,8% 941 b) no) 7,6% 146 c) I do not know 43,6% 842 Comments 222 answered question 1929 skipped question 220 Do you feel that epi is doing a good job in protecting the interests of European Patent Attorneys, e.g. vis-avis the EPO? a) yes b) no) c) I do not know As can be seen 48.8 % replied yes, 7.6 % no, and 43.6% did not have any comments. 12

13 2.10. On the question, Please add any observations or requests that you might have to improve the services that epi should, the replies indicate the following: - Create a newsletter including jurisprudence from the EPO - Establish programs for continuing education - Organize webinars - Be more influential before EPO - Stricter attitude in disciplinary matters - More networking opportunities, for example organising regular meetings of international character and local meetings in member states - Faster information on changes in guidelines, EPC rules, etc. - Summarize information on litigation cases. - More support to smaller countries. Organising meetings with local members on the occasion of epi meetings (Council, Board, etc.) - Involve younger people - Improve efficiency of epi Council meetings - More transparency about EQE. Finding solutions to the low passing rates On the question, Would you have any proposals to improve the structure of epi as an institution? only 11.4% replied in the affirmative. The ideas proposed include inter alia: - Proposals to amend the structure of epi bodies: Board, Council and Committees. - Some proposals proposed to merge the Board and the Presidium, while others ask for a reduction in the number of members of the Council. - Many of the proposals plead for increasing the efficiency of epi. - There is a proposal to have more permanent staff with legal / technical background in the secretariat, to support the lobbying work. - epi needs a voice on the Administrative Council in order to effectively advocate for change at the EPO. 13