Estonia's justice minister discusses cooperation with head of European Patent Office

TALLINN – During his visit to Estonia, Antonio Campinos, the president of the European Patent Office, met on Monday with Estonia's Minister of Justice Lea Danilson-Jarg and the director general of the Estonian Patent Office, Margus Viher, to discuss the next five-year period of cooperation between the European Patent Office and Estonia.

The 20th anniversary of Estonia's accession to the European patent system was also celebrated with the visit, spokespeople for the Estonian Ministry of Justice said.

At the meeting, an overview was provided of the latest developments in the application for patents in Europe and possible future trends were discussed. The meeting also examined the state of play of research and development in Estonia, with a particular focus on the fact that Estonian inventors Jaan Leis, Mati Arulepp and Anti Perkson won the European Inventor Award 2022 in the industry category.

"In addition to recognizing outstanding inventors, we are also working with the European Patent Office in the field of information technology, training of patent experts, exchange of experience and harmonization of practices. I am pleased that our expertise is highly valued in Europe," said the minister of justice.

The European Patent Office was established in 1973 under the European Patent Convention.

A patent from the European Patent Office allows inventors, companies and researchers from all over the world to protect their inventions in the European market, which is home to around 700 million people. Estonia acceded to the European Patent Convention on July 1, 2002 and is a full member of the European Patent Organization.