European Patent Office rated top for patent and service quality

The survey’s results showed that 26 % of the participants rate patents of the EPO as "excellent". This is in increase from 23% last year and places the EPO well ahead of the other IP5 offices. The respondents also agreed that the EPO is maintaining its high level of quality. Overall, more than 87% of respondents describe the service of the EPO as "good", "very good" or "excellent", also putting the EPO well ahead of the other IP5 offices.

Moreover, the EPO is the only office of the IP5 offices for which patent quality ranks as the top motivation for filing among the respondents. In the other jurisdictions, the commercial importance of the local market is the key factor to file patent application.

This year's survey was conducted in September and October 2021 among several hundred IP professionals. Participants were asked

about the EPO, Japan Patent Office (JPO), Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA).