History

• The European Patent Convention of 1973 established the European Patent Organisation. This entity is made up of two bodies, the European Patent Office and the Administrative Council which supervises the activities of the office. There are 37 member nations with the 38th, Serbia, expected to join in October, 2010.
  
  

Function

• According to the EPO, its main function is to provide a uniform patent application process for its member nations. They define their mission as supporting "innovation, competitiveness and economic growth." Among their responsibilities are the hearing of appeals, the disclosure of inventions and subsequent documentation and the initiation of searches and examinations of existing patent and international applications.
  
  

Patents

• Articles 52 and 53 of the European Patent Convention specify the qualities needed for an invention to be patented. Inventions must be new, able to be used for an industrial application and involve an inventive step. Inventions whose use would be considered contrary to morality as well as methods of treatment and diagnosis for animals or humans would not be considered patentable.