Recently released from EPO, EP Register data contains information on all the steps of a patent application. This seminar aims to show at a glance how Register can be used in combination with other datasets or by themselves in order to enrich patent studies or get new non trivial indicators. The presentation will be centered on examples in the subfield of wind energy.

1. EPFL, 2/10/15 Gianluca Tarasconi
CRIOS Univ Bocconi, Milan

2. • Recently released from EPO, EP Register data
contains information on all the steps of a patent
application.
• This seminar aims to show at a glance how
Register can be used in combination with other
datasets or by themselves in order to enrich patent
studies or get new non trivial indicators.
• The presentation will be centered on examples in
the subfield of wind energy.
2

3. • The European Patent Register is the place
where the European Patent Office stores
all the publicly available information it has
on European patent applications in the
various stages of the grant procedure.
• Information includes all changes with
timeline, documents and communications
(EPO DATA ONLY)
3

4. • Through the
EPO website
for single
patent data,
get XML,
history, link
to
Espacenet
Bulletin year
and week
4

5. • Two versions are available offline
• XML backfile (1978 to date) + 2 weekly
updates (EBD Epo Bibliographic Data) only
one table contains all info (like tls221)
categorized by type of event;
• CSV (EP register for patstat) patstat
compatible (link to appln_id) relational tables
(twice a year) a set of over 40 tables where
data are grouped by type of info
5

6. XML (EBD):
PRO: weekly update; easy to follow history of
one application
CONS: no direct link to patstat
CSV:
PRO: easy link to patstat based DBs, info
divided by type;
CONS: not timely updates; not easy to buildup
full history of one application;
6

7. Sample data and more info:
XML (EBD):
http://www.epo.org/searching/subscription/
raw/product-14-1.html (more in appendix)
CSV:
http://www.epo.org/searching/subscription/
raw/product-14-24-2.html
(sample: subset for wind energy in MS Access)
In the rest of presentation we will detail CSV because Epo provides a free
sample subset everybody can test as weel
7

8. • Add your text here
8

9. • All table names in PATSTAT Raw Data are in
the format REGnnn_xxxx
• REG fixed prefix
• nnn unique number; the range of the number
indicates its purpose; 100 range:
bibliographic data 200 range: procedural data
300 range: event data 400 range: reference
list of codes used in other tables
• xxxx one or more words indicating the
content of the table
9

10. 10
PATENT BASIC DATA
(in patstat too)
REG101_APPLN: Application
REG102_PAT_PUBLN: Patent publication
REG103_IPC: International Patent Classification
REG106_PRIOR: Priority
REG107_PARTIES: Applicant, inventor, legal representative
REG108_APPLICANT_STATES: Designated state by applicant
REG109_DESIGN_STATES : Designated state
REG110_TITLE: Title of patent application
REG115_NPL_CITATION: NPL citation
REG116_PAT_CITATION: Patent document citation
A reclassification of tables in groups, using the type of information contained
(work in progress) – relevant tables will be detailed later on
Most of this
information
is already in
Patstat

11. 11
LIFECICLE
REG113_TERMS_OF_GRANT: Lapse
REG114_DATES_RIGHTS: Various dates
REG117_RELATION: divisional or continuation application
REG118_PREV_FILED_APPLN: Previously filed application
REG120_DATE_APPLN_REFUSED: Refused application
REG121_DATE_RIGHTS_REESTD: Re-established right
REG122_DATE_WITHDRAWN_BY_APPLT: Application
withdrawn by applicant
REG123_DATE_DEEMED_WITHDRAWN: Application
deemed withdrawn
REG124_DATE_REVOCATION: Revoked patent
REG126_REVOCATION: Revocation
REG127_PETITION_RVW: Petition review
REG128_LIMIT_FILING: Limitation filing
REG129_LIMIT_REJECTION: Limitation rejection
REG130_LIMIT_ALLOWED: Limitation allowance
REG136_SEARCH_REPORT: Search report
SUBSET: OPPOSITIONS
REG125_APPEAL: Appeal
REG401_APPEAL_RESULT: Appeal result
REG131_OPPOSTN: Opposition
REG132_OPPOSTN_REJECTED: Opposition rejected
REG133_OPPOSTN_TERMINATED: opposition
terminated
REG134_OPPOSTN_NOT_FILED: Opposition not filed
REG137_OPPOSTN_AGENT: Opposition agent
SUBSET: LICENSES
REG111_LICENSEE: Licensee
REG112_LICENSEE_STATES: License state

12. 12
PROCEDURAL STEPS
REG201_PRCDRL_STEP: Procedural step
REG202_PRCDRL_STEP_TEXT: Text of procedural step
REG203_PRCDRL_STEP_DATE: Date of procedural step
REG204_PRCDRL_STEP_AFFECTED_STATES: Affected state of
procedural step
REG205_PRCDRL_STEP_RESULT: Result of a procedural step
EVENTS FULL LIST
REG301_EVENT_DATA: Event
REG402_EVENT_TEXT: Event text
OTHER
REG119_BIO_DEPOSIT: Bio deposit
REG135_TEXT: Miscellaneous text

13. • REG101_APPLN
Contains application data and appln_id (bridge to Patstat)
• REG111_LICENCEE, REG112_LICENSEE_STATES
Contains information about licensees and rights (source not
clear).
• REG107_PARTIES
Contains applicants (R.41(2)(c) EPC), inventors (A.81 EPC) and
agents / legal representatives (R.41(2)(d) EPC).
• REG131_OPPOSTN
This table contains data about opponent(s), their status and the
date the opposition has been filed.
13

14. • About 30% of all applications in table 101
have no appln_id since they are
international applications which have not
entered the EP regional phase. In these
cases no EP publication exists in the
PATSTAT DOCDB database to which they
can be linked. (example: appln_nr
WO2005KR04137)
14

15. • The following slides will show examples of
possible exploitation of the Register data;
• SQL code will be annexed to the appendix
for those willing to replay the results /
improve them;
• Results are based on wind energy subset
provided on EPO download page (14.681
application in CPC Y02E10).
15

16. • Table 107 (parties) allows to see the full
story of 3 types of entities: applicant,
inventor and representative.
• Each type has a sequence number and a
year and week (that are bulletin number)
when change occurs.
16

17. Id
Set_seq
Nr
Seq
nr
Is
Latest Type
Bulletin
year
Bulletin
nr Name Event
98954111 1 1 N A 2000 46 FOPPE, Werner
original applicant
98954111 1 2 N A 2000 46 Tavera, Ivon
98954111 1 N R 2000 46
COHAUSZ HANNIG DAWIDOWICZ &
PARTNER
original
representative
98954111 1 Y I 2000 46 FOPPE, Werner inventor
98954111 2 2 N A 2001 11 FOPPE, Werner Chg order of
applicants
98954111 2 1 N A 2001 11 Tavera, Ivon
98954111 3 1 Y A 2005 17
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und
Raumfahrt e.V.
new applicant
98954111 2 N R 2008 31
COHAUSZ DAWIDOWICZ HANNIG &
SOZIEN
representative
name change
98954111 3 Y R 0 0 Cohausz Hannig Borkowski Wissgott
representative
name change
dbo_ereg101_appln
id appln_id appln_auth appln_nr
appln_filing_da
te
filing_lg status internat_appln_nr
98954111 17364175 EP 98954111 1998-08-10 de 7 WO1998DE0229317

18. • How can I distinguish names changes from
acquisitions?
• I should use table 301 where type of events are listed,
described in table 402;
• 2 type of events: 9 - Change – applicant ; 30 - Change -
name/address;
• In the example all events are listed as changes, even if the
first case was a switch.
dbo_ereg301_event_data
id event_date event_code event_text_id bulletin_year bulletin_nr bulletin_date
98954111 2001-01-26 0009199APPR 9 2001 11 2001-03-14
98954111 2005-03-11 0009199APPR 9 2005 17 2005-04-27
98954111 2005-03-11 0008199APPR 9 2005 17 2005-04-27
18

19. • CAVEAT:
• From handbook: “Remark: There are 2 possible EVENT_TEXT
entries when the applicant/proprietor changes: “Change –
applicant” and “Change – name/address”. Users should NOT
infer that the “Change – applicant” event means a transfer of
rights from one applicant to another. Even in case of a simple
address change of an applicant a “Change – applicant” event
and not a “Change – name/address” event might have been
published ;
• A possible correction may be to use semantic analysis to
correct the data. For example, if only the address has
changed but not the name, we could assume that “change” is
not a change of ownership…
19

20. Data crosscheck using
the other subset
available in Patstat
(TLS221)
and Espacenet: they are all
RAP1 (change of applicant)
appln_id prs_event_seq_n prs_gazette_date prs_code NEWOWNER
17364175 3 '2001-03-14' 'RAP1' 'FOPPE, WERNER'
17364175 4 '2001-03-14' 'RAP1' 'TAVERA, IVON'
17364175 7 '2005-04-27' 'RAP1' 'DEUTSCHES ZENTRUM FUER LUFT- UND RAUMFAHRT E.V.'
20

21. 21
name b_address_2001 c_address_2005
Weitkamp, Roland Hinter dem Felde 30 Östringer Weg 38
If we have the same name for an inventor
but two different addresses in two
different patents, how can we say they
are the same person?

22. 22
• The timeline may allow to reconcile entities
with different addresses, if they had one in
common in the timeline (in the example 1
application was born when the other expires)
2001
2005
NAME N1
ADR A1
NAME N1
ADR A2
NAME
N1ADR A1
APP #1 APP #2

23. Adresses changes
a_id b_id type a_is_latest b_is_latest name b_address_1 c_address_1 c_is_latest
105677 7765077 I Y N Weitkamp,
Roland
Hinter dem
Felde 30
Östringer
Weg 38
Y
107376 4026350 A Y N Winergy AG Im
Industriepar
k 2
Am
Industriepar
k 2
Y
108361 2012186 A Y N Mitsch,
Franz
Brentano
Strasse 28
Brentanostr
asse 28
Y
401735 7301360 A Y N Alcatel
Lucent
54, rue La
Boétie
3, avenue
Octave
Gréard
Y
926412 8776267 I Y N DEHLSEN,
James, G., P.
200 San
Ysidro Road
1505 Monte
Vista
Y
1940908 3701486 A Y N Vestas Wind
Systems A/S
Smed
So̸rensens
Vej 5
Alsvej 21 Y
1943176 7020910 A Y N LM
GLASFIBER
A/S
Rolles
Moellevej 1
Jupitervej 6 Y
23See query T00 in appendix for SQL

24. • Legal Representative is a type of data not
available in other datasets;
• Data are not standardized, though EPO
has a clean database of those who
eventually ‘pay the bills’;
24

25. name count %
Bedford, Grant Richard 665 5,0%
(deleted) (*) 522 3,9%
Eisenführ Speiser 318 2,4%
Intès, Didier Gérard André, et al 279 2,1%
Grünecker, Kinkeldey, Stockmair & Schwanhäusser 153 1,1%
Hauck Patentanwaltspartnerschaft mbB 135 1,0%
ZBM Patents - Zea, Barlocci & Markvardsen 130 1,0%
Inspicos A/S 128 1,0%
Plougmann & Vingtoft A/S 110 0,8%
Glawe, Delfs, Moll 99 0,7%
Hoffmann Eitle 98 0,7%
Vossius & Partner 84 0,6%
Bedford, Grant Richard, et al 83 0,6%
Isarpatent 71 0,5%
(*) data not collected in 522 applications
SQL code in appendix (T01) 25

26. 26
reptype repname typea namea typeb nameb
R
Vossius &
Partner A
MINNESOTA
MINING AND
MANUFACTURING
COMPANY A
3M Innovative
Properties
Company
R
Dahlstran
d, Björn,
et al A
ASEA BROWN
BOVERI AB A ABB AB
If two applicants share the
same representative, they
can be the same;
Due to copatenting, non
exclusivity etc. this cannot
be a match criterion but
can only be used in the
filtering phase; SQL code in appendix T02

27. 27
If two applicants
share the same
representative and
address we may find
non trivial results;
SQL code in appendix T03
Namea Nameb Address_1 Address_2 Country Type
NEG Micon A/S
Vestas Wind
Systems A/S Alsvej 21
8900
Randers DK A

28. 28
• Looking for individual applicants who use
very expert attorneys as representative;
• Hypothesis: higher attorney cost, higher
revenue expectations;
• We get (query T04) 210 patents;
• Crosscheck: forward citations counts:
average in all wind energy= 1,19; average
in the selected data: 1,42 (20% higher);

29. Opponent_name Opp_count
Vestas Wind Systems A/S 110
ENERCON GmbH 106
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft 85
NORDEX ENERGY GmbH 33
SIEMENS AG 31
REpower Systems AG 26
REpower Systems SE 18
GE Wind Energy GmbH 16
SENVION SE 12
29
SQL code in appendix T05
• Another indicator of
possible value are
oppositions filed
(Table 131);
• Here the top 10 of
opposition filers
(data not cleaned –
Repower and
Siemens are double)

30. • Selecting patents who had at least an
opposition may be suitable for higher
value / impact?
• Selecting patents who had at least one
opposition avg citation rate is 2,96 vs 1,19
overall wind energy (+150%)
• In the sample less than 0,1% of citations
were introduced due to oppositions.
30

31. 31
cit origin count of patents %
115 5 0,3%
APP 669 43,2%
EXA 32 2,1%
ISR 325 21,0%
OPP 2 0,1%
PRS 8 0,5%
SEA 506 32,7%
Total 1547

32. • Is a procedure that may indicate high
expected value;
• Tracked through event 337 in table 301
(SQL in appendix T06);
• 36 application are filed under this type of
request;
• Average citation rate: 7,083 (more than 6
time the average).
32

33. 33
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Average wind energy Indiv. with 'big lawyer' Opposition filed against Accel. Examination
A B C D
type avg citation rate
A Average wind energy 1,191509245
B Indiv. with 'big lawyer' 1,419047619
C Opposition filed against 2,488397355
D Accel. Examination 7,083333333

34. Too much information
running through my brain
Too much information
driving me insane…
34
POLICE, 1981

35. • The Federated European Patent Register, collects data from
the designated contracting states "on the fly".
• This display shows a minimum set of bibliographic and legal
status data for European patents in the post-grant or
"national" phase as retrieved by the EPO from the national
registers of the designated states concerned.
• The service can be accessed by clicking on the "Federated
Register" link in the left-hand panel when viewing the patent
document details.
35

36. 36

37. • 26 June 2015
• The EPO has extended the Global dossier service to include file wrapper data from
the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
• The project is an initiative by the EPO, JPO, KIPO, China's State Industrial Property
Office (SIPO) and the USPTO, collectively referred to as the IP5 offices, who agreed to
make available information produced by each office in a family of patent applications
(applications for the same invention filed at multiple offices). The aim is to simplify
access to important information pertaining to these dossiers both for users and the
public, and to enhance the transparency of the patent system.
• The addition of this new data completes the coverage of file wrapper information
from the IP5 Offices:
• The first EPO Global Dossier was launched last June with European and Chinese
dossier content the service was extended to Espacenet in October 2014. Data from
Japan and Korea was added in April this year. The information is available free of
charge in Espacenet and the European Patent Register.
37

38. • aaa
38

39. • We get a
list of
documents
in PDF
39

40. All data in the EBD format is extracted from the EPO's EPASYS database - a
database which contains all procedural data regarding European patent documents.
EPASYS data input is the responsibility of many EPO staff (examiners and
formalities officers) with many thousands of transactions taking place per day. No
new data content is added during the conversion to the EBD format (except XML
tags) - we can only process what is in the EPASYS database. If there is a mistake
in EPASYS, for example, there will be a mistake in the EBD data
It should be noted that the EBD file is not a cumulative record of all the changes
which may have been made to a file (for this users should refer to the Register of
European Patents (see above) - it is a ‘snap shot’ of only those changes which
occurred in a particular publication week. In addition there is a clear distinction
between A and B publications (separate files) since these are separate documents
for publication purposes - therefore, the B file is not an update of the A file;
it is a file in its own right (extracted from EPASYS) - although, of course, much of the data
may be the same in both files. See included XLS file with the list of all fields or the list of
available tags in next page
40

41. 41
<B000> Office specific system/file information <B245> Date of suspension (Rule 14) / Interruption (Rule 142) of proceedings
<B001EP> Selective mask for states involved <B245EP> Suspension/Interruption indicator
<B002EP> Changed tags <B246> Date of resumption of proceedings (Rule 14 / Rule 142)
<B003EP> Indicator 'no A-document published by EPO' <B250> Filing language
<B004EP> Re-establishment of rights indicator <B251EP> Procedure language
<B005EP> Printer/Producer identification <B260> Publication language
<B006EP> Indicator for international applications <B270> Previously filed application
<B007EP> Reserved for EPO internal use
<B300>, <B310>,
<B320>, <B330> Priority data
<B008EP> Indicator for "small changes" <B400> Public availability dates
<B009EP> Text from B725EP tag in the three EPO official languages <B405> Patent Bulletin / Gazette information
<B010EP> Other rights and legal means of execution <B430> Unexamined document without grant (first publication)
<B012EP> New revocation procedure (Art 105a) <B450> Document with grant (second publication)
<B015EP> Number of copies to be printed <B451EP> Date of announcement of intention to grant
<B050EP> Free text <B452EP> Date of announcement of intention to grant (after 01072002)
<B053EP> Additional remarks <B453EP> Limitation decision
<B070EP> B publication technical field (subsequently filed technical information) <B477> Document printed as amended, third level of publication (eg EPO B2)
<B075EP> Petition for review <B480> Corrigendum issued data
<B078EP> Date of 'No opposition filed' <B500> Technical Data
<B080EP> Public notification <B510> International Patent Classification (IPC)
<B090EP> Limitation procedure <B510EP> New International Patent Classification (IPC8)
<B091EP> Limitation procedure - Initial filing <B540> Title
<B092EP> Limitation procedure - Rejection of limitation fields <B560> List of prior art documents
<B093EP> Limitation procedure - Limitation request allowed fields <B565> Date of completion of search report
<B100> Document identification <B565EP> Date of drawing up and despatch of supplementary search report
<B110> Publication number of the document (EPO or WIPO) <B566EP> Date of despatch for correction to the search report
<B120> Plain language designation <B598> Figure number on first (title) page, abstract drawing
<B130> Kind of document <B600> References to other legally or procedurally related domestic patent documents
<B132EP> Original kind code <B610> Earlier document information
<B133EP> New kind code <B620> Parent application data
<B140> Date of publication <B620EP> Divisional application(s)
<B150> Patent correction information <B700> Parties concerned with the document
<B190> Publishing country or organisation <B710> Applicants
<B200> Domestic filing data <B720> Inventors
<B210> Application number <B730> Grantees
<B220> Application filing date <B740> Attorney/agent of the applicant(s)
<B235> Date of refusal of application <B780> Opposition(s)
<B236> Date of withdrawal of application <B790> Licence(s)
<B237> Date of application deemed withdrawn <B800> International Convention Data
<B238> Date of decision for re-establishment of rights <B830> Information concerning deposit of micro-organisms
<B238EP> Date of receipt of request for re-establishment of rights <B840> Designated contracting states
<B239> Date of revocation <B844EP> States to which the application/patent is extended
<B241> Date of request for examination <B848EP> States to which the patent is validated
<B242> Date of despatch of the first examination report <B860> PCT application data
<B243> Date of 'patent maintained as amended' <B870> PCT publication data
<B244> Request for conversion (to national application) under EPC Art <B880> Publication of the deferred search report

42. address changes, same entity(T00)
SELECT DISTINCT a.id, b.id, a.type, a.is_latest, b.is_latest, a.name, b.address_1, c.address_1,
c.is_latest
FROM (dbo_ereg107_parties AS a INNER JOIN dbo_ereg107_parties AS b ON (a.type =
b.type) AND (a.address_1 = b.address_1) AND (a.name = b.name)) INNER JOIN
dbo_ereg107_parties AS c ON (b.type = c.type) AND (b.name = c.name) AND (b.id = c.id)
WHERE (((b.id)<>[a].[id]) AND ((a.is_latest)="Y") AND ((b.is_latest)="N") AND
((c.address_1)<>[b].[address_1]) AND ((c.is_latest)="Y"));
42

43. top representative (T01)
SELECT a.name, Count(a.id) AS appcount
FROM dbo_ereg107_parties AS a
WHERE (((a.type)="R") AND ((a.is_latest)="Y"))
GROUP BY a.name
ORDER BY Count(a.id) DESC;
Applicants with same representative (T02)
SELECT DISTINCT a.id AS ida, b.id AS dib, t1.type AS reptype, t1.name AS repname, a.type
AS typea, a.name AS namea, b.type AS typeb, b.name AS nameb
FROM (SELECT c.type, c.name, c.id, d.id FROM dbo_ereg107_parties AS c INNER JOIN
dbo_ereg107_parties AS d ON (c.name = d.name) AND (c.type = d.type) WHERE
(((c.type)="R") AND ((d.id)>[c].[id]))) as t1
INNER JOIN dbo_ereg107_parties AS b ON t1.dbo_ereg107_parties_id = b.id) INNER JOIN
dbo_ereg107_parties AS a ON (b.type = a.type) AND (t1.dbo_ereg107_parties_1_id = a.id)
WHERE (((a.type)="A"));
43

44. Applicants with same representative and address (T03)
SELECT distinct a.name AS namea, b.name AS nameb, b.address_1, b.address_2, b.address_3,
b.address_4, b.address_5, b.country, a.type
FROM dbo_ereg107_parties AS a INNER JOIN dbo_ereg107_parties AS b ON (a.type = b.type)
AND (a.country = b.country) AND (a.address_5 = b.address_5) AND (a.address_4 = b.address_4)
AND (a.address_3 = b.address_3) AND (a.address_2 = b.address_2) AND (a.address_1 =
b.address_1)
WHERE (((b.name)<>[a].[name]) AND ((b.address_1)<>"") AND ((a.type)="A"));
Individual applicants using expert attorneys (T04)
SELECT DISTINCT a.id, app.appln_id, _biglawyers.name, _biglawyers.appcount
FROM dbo_ereg101_appln AS app INNER JOIN (((dbo_ereg107_parties AS a INNER JOIN
dbo_ereg107_parties AS b ON (a.id = b.id) AND (a.name = b.name)) INNER JOIN
dbo_ereg107_parties AS R ON b.id = R.id) INNER JOIN
(SELECT a.name, Count(a.id) AS appcount
FROM dbo_ereg107_parties AS a
WHERE (((a.type)="R") AND ((a.is_latest)="Y"))
GROUP BY a.name
HAVING (((Count(a.id))>100))) as _biglawyers ON R.name = _biglawyers.name) ON app.id = a.id
WHERE (((a.type)="A") AND ((b.type)="I") AND ((R.type)="R") AND
((_biglawyers.name)<>"(DELETED)"));
44

45. TOP 10 of Companies which file oppositions (T05)
SELECT a.opponent_name, Count(distinct a.id) AS opp_count
FROM dbo_ereg131_oppostn AS a
GROUP BY a.opponent_name
ORDER BY Count(a.id) DESC limit 0,10;
Filed Under Request Of Accelerated Examination (T06)
• SELECT DISTINCT 101.*, 402.event_text INTO t5
• FROM (dbo_ereg101_appln AS 101 INNER JOIN dbo_ereg301_event_data AS 301 ON
101.id = 301.id) INNER JOIN dbo_ereg402_event_text AS 402 ON 301.event_text_id =
402.event_text_id
• WHERE (((301.event_text_id)=337));
45