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About the EPO
The European Patent Office
With almost 7 000 employees, the European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the largest public service institutions in Europe. Its headquarters are in Munich and it also has offices in Berlin, Brussels, The Hague and Vienna. The EPO was founded with the aim of strengthening co-operation on patents in Europe. Through the EPO's centralised patent granting procedure, inventors are able to obtain high-quality patent protection in up to 44 countries, covering a market of some 700 million people. The EPO is also the world's leading authority in patent information and patent searching.
The EPO received over 165 000 patent applications and granted over 105 000 patents, in 2017. Its free online patent database, Espacenet, contains more than 100 million technical documents from 100 countries, and its free neural machine translation service, Patent Translate, provides instant, high-quality translation in 32 languages, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Russian.
Our patent examiners are drawn from over 30 different European countries. They work at the cutting edge of technology, analysing the latest inventions in all kinds of technical fields in order to protect and promote innovation in Europe. Their daily work combines scientific expertise with analytical research and an eye for the legal aspects of intellectual property.
What we offer
- the opportunity to acquaint yourself with the latest inventions and to enable innovation
- intellectual challenges and empowerment through professional development
- the chance to work with inspiring people from various different cultures
- an excellent social package
- contributory medical-insurance and pension schemes
- depending on their personal circumstances, EPO staff may be entitled to relocation benefits and various allowances (e.g. household, dependants', childcare, education, expatriation, installation and rent allowance)
Are you an engineer or a scientist interested in joining an international team of highly qualified staff? Do you want to see the latest inventions?
Then this professional opportunity is the right one for you!
We are currently seeking engineers and scientists, with a Master's degree in telecommunications, computer science, electrical/computer engineering or physics, to work as European Patent Examiners in the area of Information and Communication Technology in the following technical fields:
The Hague
- Wireless telecommunications networks
- Distributed Computing
- Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing
Munich
- ICT Security
Your main responsibilities
- Carrying out patent examination from the search to the post-grant stage, and solving complex technical and legal problems in the process
- Taking a broad perspective to identify solutions whilst ensuring the uniform and effective application of the EPC (European Patent Convention) and other legal texts
- Creating and maintaining classification systems to ensure efficient and effective searching
We expect you to be able to:
- analyse technical and subject-specific information
- retrieve technical information from databases and other sources
- analyse and compare technical matter according to the legal provisions applicable
- make decisions following the assessment of complex technical information, the application of legal requirements and the examination of parties' arguments
- write clear and well-reasoned communications
- interact with colleagues and applicants to process patent applications efficiently
Your qualifications
- Master's degree (or equivalent) in telecommunications, computer science, electrical/computer engineering or physics. The degree should be relevant to the technical field(s) indicated in this vacancy notice.
- Generally, an excellent knowledge (at least C1) of one official language (English, French and German) and working knowledge (at least B2) of the other two. In exceptional cases, excellent knowledge (at least C1) of one official language and working knowledge (at least B2) of another. In such cases, the willingness to learn the third language and to reach Level B2 within three years would be required.
- Work experience in industry would be advantageous.
- Citizenship of one of the member states of the European Patent Organisation.
Recruitment events
Our next recruitment events will take place in The Hague from 15.10.2018 to 19.10.2018 and in Munich from 22.10.2018 to 26.10.2018. As a general rule, you will be invited to the location (Munich or The Hague) for which your application is being considered.
Recruitment process
At the end of our recruitment process, suitable candidates are either directly appointed to a vacant post or added to the EPO Talent Pool for a period of 18 months. We may use the Talent Pool to fill vacant posts with a similar profile.
Job group: 4
Grade: G7-10 (net (basic) monthly salary* for this vacancy: EUR 5 500 to 7 800, depending on experience)
Duration of appointment: five years
Career path: Technical
Location: The Hague/Munich
Application deadline: 16.07.2018
* after deduction of EPO internal tax and before deduction of staff contributions to the social-security and pension schemes.
The EPO is an equal opportunities employer and supports workforce diversity as a signatory to the Diversity Charter (Charta der Vielfalt) since 2010.
All applications for vacant positions will be welcomed and considered on the professional merits of the applicant against the role profile for the position regardless of nationality, ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, parental responsibilities, age, religion or belief.
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