European Patent Institute

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The Institute of Professional Representatives before the European Patent Office or European Patent Institute (epi) is a professional association of European patent attorneys and an international non-governmental public law corporation. It was founded on October 21 1977 by the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation. <ref name=EPC134>Article 134(8)(b) of the European Patent Convention (EPC), signed at Munich, Germany on October 5, 1973.</ref> All European patent attorneys, i.e. all persons entitled to act as professional representatives before the EPO (by virtue of either the European qualifying examination or the provisions of Article 163, paragraph 7 EPC), are members of the Institute. <ref name=EPC134/> <ref name=REG97>Article 5(1) of the Regulation on the establishment of an institute of professional representatives before the European Patent Office, OJ 1997, 350 with corrections according to OJ 1997, 130, OJ 2002, 429 and OJ 2004, 361. </ref>

The European Patent Institute publishes a quarterly journal, the epi Information. The current president of the European Patent Institute is Chris P. Mercer. <ref> European Patent Institute web site, Board Members, retrieved on July 12, 2006. </ref>