Examining innovation

The EPO is the 2nd largest European public organization providing patent protection for up to 40 European countries. This organization plays a fundamental role in the European economy by granting patents for innovations.  By protecting new technological inventions, the EPO enables inventors and companies to be rewarded for these innovations. In 2013, 266.000 patents, coming from e.g. the US (24%), Japan (20%), Germany (12%) and China (8%), were filed at the EPO. In order to manage the growing demand for patents, the EPO employs over 4.100  patent examiners. All of them with an engineering or scientific background. This makes The EPO one of Europe’s biggest engineering employers.

Working at the European Patent Office gives you a unique window into where technology is going

Stéphan Jardon, patent examiner

“Working at the European Patent Office gives you a unique window into where technology is going,” said Stéphan Jardon, a patent examiner in the EPO’s office in The Hague who specialises in applications in the field of computer memory management.  “By looking at the patent applications we receive and the advances involved, we have an idea what will be on the market several years before it gets there. It’s a very exciting place to be.”