Training internship with the European Patent Office (EPO)

European Patent Attorney Hans Kristian Mikkelsen has just returned from a training internship with the EPO where he experienced sitting on the other side of the desk

In the month of November, Patentgruppen's Hans Kristian Mikkelsen spent three weeks with the European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich. Together with eight others from various EPO countries, he had been selected among several applicants to participate in a training internship as an examiner. Hans Kristian was attached to one examiner and followed this examiner's tasks while he was also to a great extent allowed to work on the examination of submitted patent applications.

During the three weeks, Hans Kristian among other things ran searches for prior art in EPO's own internal database and wrote drafts for both issuance and rejection of patent applications. Further, it was very interesting that he had the opportunity to observe five oral proceedings in connection with oppositions against issued patents. Through all elements of the stay, he gained great insight into how the EPO works and how one may act advantageously facing examiners both through written and oral communication.