European Patent Office
The European Patent Office (EPO) grants European patents. Despite what the name suggests, these are not European Community patents or even Europe-wide patents. The European Patent Convention, according to which the EPO was founded, provides a single patent grant procedure, but not yet a single patent. After grant, the European patent becomes a number ("bundle") of national patents.The EPO is seated in Munic/Germany with a branch in Rijswijk (suburb of The Hagu/Netherlands) and sub-offices in Berli/Germany and Vienn/Austria.
