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The European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the two organs of the European Patent Organisation (EPOrg), the other being the Administrative Council. The EPO acts as executive body for the Organisation〔(Gower's Report on Intellectual Property ), para 1.34〕 while the Administrative Council acts as its supervisory body〔 as well as, to a limited extent, its legislative body.〔 The actual legislative power to revise the European Patent Convention lies with the Contracting States themselves when meeting at a Conference of the Contracting States. Within the European Patent Office, examiners are in charge of studying European patent applications, filed by applicants, in order to decide whether to grant a patent for an invention. The patents granted by the European Patent Office are called European patents. ==Function, status and location== The European Patent Office (EPO) grants European patents for the Contracting States to the European Patent Convention. The EPO provides a single patent grant procedure, but not a single patent from the point of view of enforcement. Hence the patents granted are not European Union patents or even Europe-wide patents, but a bundle of national patents.〔 Besides granting European patents, the EPO is also in charge of establishing search reports for national patent applications on behalf of the patent offices of Belgium, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, San Marino, and Turkey.〔See Article 1 of (Decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 5 October 2010 on the filing of copies of search results under Rule 141(1) EPC - utilisation scheme ), EPO web site, Notices and decisions of the President, October 20, 2010. Consulted on October 22, 2010.〕 The European Patent Office is not a legal entity as such,〔Decision (T 1012/03 ) of December 1, 2006, Reasons 29.〕 but an organ of the European Patent Organisation, which has a legal personality. The EPO headquarters are located at Munich, Germany.〔 The European Patent Office also includes a branch in Rijswijk (a suburb of The Hague, Netherlands), sub-offices in Berlin, Germany, and Vienna, Austria and a "liaison bureau" in Brussels, Belgium. At the end of 2009, the European Patent Office had a staff of 6818 (with 3718 based in Munich, 2710 in Rijswijk, 274 in Berlin, 112 in Vienna and 4 in Brussels).〔European Patent Office, (''Annual Report 2009. Staff and resources'' ), Fig. 2 Analysis of staff in post on 31 December 2009 by place of employment & grade. Consulted on 1 June 2010.〕 The predecessor of the European Patent Office was the ''Institut International des Brevets'' or IIB. The premises of the European Patent Office enjoy a form of extraterritoriality. In accordance with the Protocol on Privileges and Immunities,〔(Protocol on Privileges and Immunities of the European Patent Organisation (Protocol on Privileges and Immunities) of 5 October 1973 ).〕 which forms an integral part of the European Patent Convention under , the premises of the European Patent Organisation, and therefore those of the European Patent Office, are inviolable.〔Protocol on Privileges and Immunities, Article 1(1).〕 The authorities of the States in which the Organisation has its premises are not authorized to enter those premises, except with the consent of the President of the European Patent Office.〔Protocol on Privileges and Immunities, Article 1(2).〕 Such consent is however "assumed in case of fire or other disaster requiring prompt protective action".〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「European Patent Office」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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