GDPR / Data Privacy of inventors / Filings

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alainjpr
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Jun 16, 2020 11:03 am

GDPR / Data Privacy of inventors / Filings

Post by alainjpr » Tue Jun 16, 2020 11:19 am

Due to the GDPR (General Data Privacy Regulation) European regulation, companies have to put in place heavy processes in to comply with the requirements in case they keep private inventor data in their systems.

Usually it was required that for patent filings the personal / private address of an inventor to be provided. It seems however that if the inventor is an employee of a company and is submitting the invention through the employer, then the professionnal address of the inventor can be provided.

I would like to have the official documents where this is clearly stated for all relevant procedures. I found one (in French) when the EPO is the receiving office for the EPO procedure : https://www.epo.org/law-practice/legal- ... 13_fr.html.

At the end of the document it says: "13. Il est donc conseillé de fournir ces informations dans le formulaire de requête PCT dès le dépôt de la demande internationale. Si l'inventeur ne souhaite pas indiquer son adresse personnelle, l'OEB acceptera généralement l'adresse de son employeur, le cas échéant."


EPO / Innovation Networks
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Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2014 3:36 pm

Re: GDPR / Data Privacy of inventors / Filings

Post by EPO / Innovation Networks » Mon Aug 17, 2020 6:34 am

Dear alainjpr,
For any European patent application the inventor(s) must be designated. The designation shall state the family name, given names and full address of the inventor (Article 81 and Rule 19 of the European Patent Convention (EPC)).

Please note that the EPO shall not verify the accuracy of the designation of the inventor. The address is required for the purpose of notifying the inventor. The inventor is notified at the given address as indicated by the applicant. He may choose to indicate the address of his employer or his private personal or professional address. Restrictions in the data entry do not allow for several addresses.

The fact that the inventor may either indicate their private/personal address or, if employed the one of their employer, results from the EPC itself. The designation of inventor shall state the family name, given names and the full address of the inventor (Article 81 and Rule 19 EPC). The EPC also states explicitly that the European Patent Office shall not verify the accuracy of the designation of the inventor (Rule 19(2) EPC).

Please do not hesitate to contact support@epo.org in case of any further question.
Kind regards,

The Innovation Networks Team


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