We have all now learned that Covid19 is not a regional problem and is not behind us in a few months. We see large corporate clients seeking for cost savings and try to find such for them. As international travel is virtually impossible, new patterns have developed in communication. Video conferencing has become so ubiquitous that we call this ‘meetings’ now. Our regular personal contact with clients is dearly missed and we seek to compensate this online. This is far more efficient and also much cheaper, but still not perfect.

Is this a matter of getting more used to this? One would tend to think this, seeing the practices in Oral Proceedings at the EPO. Online proceedings have become regular. Clients get used to this, and attorneys too. Significant cost savings are achieved, because time spent drops and travel expense is fully avoided. And it is also easier to engage the attorney that originally drafted the patent. 

Shall this development influence the decision to opt more often for Oral Proceedings? Preparation time is still relevant in the expense, but the cost saving by online proceedings is substantial. Those that were against in the past, can not but accept the new reality. So Covid 19 has instigated changes in business, that otherwise might have taken many years. 

Should clients for certain cases still prefer Oral Proceeding in a live setting, AIPEX is able to provide ample choice from it’s large pool of attorneys, to provide for any discipline in the vicinity of one of the EPO courts. Be aware that online Oral Proceedings has to be applied for timely, or you may end up in regular proceedings after all.

AIPEX specialises in IP solutions and intellectual property management for pan-European companies like yours. As regional counsel for large multinational IP portfolios, we deliver bespoke IP management. And we do it with one convenient point of contact. Co-ordinated from our head office, offices in 11 EU countries manage portfolios for European, North American and Far Eastern companies across multiple markets.

We cost-effectively simplify your IP management and protect your IP interests. While we help keep your IP working hard and profitably, you can get on with business.

AIPEX spans 11 European offices and brings together over 500 IP lawyers and support professionals have managed IP in over 90 sectors.

This truly diverse team is made from award winning, top tier legal firms, who come together with one vision and one goal: delivering a single point solution for European portfolio management.