The Quality Management System at the EPO

Transcription

1 The Quality Management System at the EPO Commitment to excellence Wolfram Förster Principal Director Quality Management Partnership for Quality Meeting with US Bar 12 May 2015

2 Contents I. EPO quality policy II. Quality assurance III. EPO Quality Management system IV. Greater transparency 2

3 I. EPO quality policy 3

4 EPO quality policy An ongoing commitment to improvement. 4

5 EPO Quality Policy Legal certainty Service Continual improvement Involvement Informed decision making Openness Commitment In pursuing these principles the EPO builds on the culture of quality and excellence that has established 5

6 Our commitment to quality We have a clear and consistent quality policy. Our annual quality objectives are broken down to individual level. We invest in high specialisation and intense training of EPO examiners. Our state-of-the-art tools allow efficient access by examiners. (e.g. machine translation) We have very comprehensive prior art coverage: 91 million documents available to examiners. We have an ISO 9001 certified Quality Management System in place, covering the entire patent granting process. We are involved in international co-operation projects to improve the patent system. 6

7 II. Quality assurance 7

8 Our procedures and review processes Single procedure EPC legal framework for patent granting procedure Systematic approach during examination examining division consisting of three examiners who are experts in the technical field Review processes in opposition and appeal Filing Search Examination Grant Opposition Appeal 8

9 Quality assurance during the European grant procedure OQC* OQC Filing Search Examination Grant Opposition Appeal Publication of the application and search report Publication of the patent specification *OQC Operational Quality Control *CASE Conformity Assurance in Search and Examination random selection of files extracted from recent in-process control production workload ISO9001 certified QControl of Patent Administration processes & products random sample of searches, all grants Nonconforming Product Procedure (NCP) capture of quality-relevant data for continual improvement 9

10 Quality assurance in Opposition procedure Quality of opposition procedures and decisions Substantive matters assessments by Directorate Quality Audit Administrative matters checked by Patent Administration Operative Quality Control - PA-OQC Search and Examination Metrics from Opposition (SEMO), assesses all opposition cases where the patent was revoked or maintained in amended form Use of collected data analysis of the Search and Examination procedures as seen from the perspective of the Opposition findings are presented to operations in order to assist improvements to search, substantive examination and formal procedures. 10

11 Other quality assurance activities at the EPO Class-OQC - Classification Operational Quality Control yearly cycle USS User Satisfaction Survey 3-year cycles users interviewed on satisfaction with EPO in general and on specific files New procedure for handling complaints complaints can be submitted via webform available on our website 11

12 Integrated Quality reporting (e.g. in DG1) CLASS-OQC External Stakeholders USS CASE SEMO DG1 Complaints QA (as of 2014) QUALITY PRESENTATION QUALITY REPORT Reference document 12

13 III. EPO Quality Management system 13

14 EPO Quality Management system The EPO s Quality Management System: is based on ISO 9001 principles aims to improve high quality services and products year on year The EPO Quality Management system is tailored to help achieve this aim: Quality analysis and continuous review of performance Identification of opportunities for improvement Effective communication of findings Action plans to make improvements happen Target setting 14

15 The Quality Management Process Model Continual improvement of the Quality Management System Policy, Management Objectives, strategy, responsibility review Users Users Staff, Resource training, infrastructure, management... Internal Measurement, QMS audit, internal analysis prod and audit, CASE, improvement PA-OQC,... Satisfaction EPC, Requirements timeliness... Input [Admin Product of] Search, examination, realization etc. Search, grants, Products publications, fee payments Output

16 Annual Quality Management cycle Set quality objectives (President) Management Review of QMS (Chaired by President) Define Action plans (Operations) QMS process audits & quality KPIs monitoring (Quality Management Department) Action plans (For approval by President) 16

17 IV. Greater transparency 17

18 A new EPO internet section dedicated to quality 18

19 2014 Annual Report 19

20 Highlights of

21 Quality Indicators 21

22 Quality Indicators 22

23 Thank you for your attention! 23

24 MAKING COMPLAINTS AT THE EPO Principal Directorate Quality Management 12 May 2015

25 Handling of external complaints at the EPO ISO 9001 compliant user-friendly tool for submitting feedback making complaint handling more transparent and efficient harmonised treatment of external complaints meet user expectation of a comprehensive and timely reply, or/and of an action taken by the operational department improve the quality of our services by identifying the need for corrective and/or preventive actions File your complaint online via: or

26 Making a complaint is not filing an appeal under Article 106 EPC 3

27 file-specific procedural issue software/online services other Making a complaint is not filing an appeal under Article 106 EPC 4

28 Routing of complaints incoming complaint acknowledgment of receipt complaint handling unit (PDQM) gathering feedback operational competent department reply to complainant informs PDQM action taken closure message 5

29 6

30 Complaints Highlights 2014 Complaints registered 360 % breakdown by issue: Examiner products and services Formalities products and services Other products and services 53% 24% 23% % registered online % complaints replied to within 20 business days* 53% 90% Complaints listed are formal complaints. 7/15

31 Complaints Highlights (update ) 8/15

32 Thank you for your attention