Searching the EP State Data

We have included a comprehensive collection of EP state searchable fields - 24 to be precise, in which you can use to perform detailed searches.  The searchable fields will search the EP states, validation status, dates of payments, as well as meta data where you can search the number of validated states, active, abandoned and so on.  All of these can be combined with other searches included assignee, CPC classification, or what ever you want.

While you can search the fields directly, you can opt to use the EP Validation search form in the Search Strategies tab, which offers comprehensive searching as well - with the convenience of using a form.

Example:  Here we want to find the EP patents, where Dyson is validated in both Germany and Great Britain.

The assignee is searched as it is in other forms whereas you can choose the normalized assignee in either Current, Original or Ultimate.

Further down the form we have selected DE and GB in the Record-Level Query, and selected ACTIVE in the Validation Status drop-down.

Similar to the other Search Strategy query forms, you can see the form-generated search in the results query (example below)

Notice that the EP States (using the field code EP_ST) is using the WITH operator when combined with Active (in the EP_ST_STATUS field).  Using the WITH, and not AND, operator, in this case is essential when performing this search.

The WITH operator searches that particular EP State with its corresponding Status, for example FR - ABANDONED, DE - ACTIVE, GB - ACTIVE.  If you used the AND in the search, then it would search all the Status regardless of if it was tied to a particular State.  

So, for example, if you searched EP_ST:FR AND EP_ST_STATUS:ACTIVE, to find those active in France, it would still have retrieved this document because it wasn’t searching the Status related to FR  - giving you incorrect results.

The following is the list of the searchable EP State related fields, along with descriptions and examples.  They can also be found within the AcclaimIP Help Field Code Guide.  Search as EP_ to retrieve a list of the EP state fields.


Field Code Description Example
EP_ST EP Member State Lists country for which the event is recorded including DE, FR, GB etc.  Typically used with other codes beginning with EP_ST_ and the WITH operator.

EP_ST:DE WITH EP_ST_STATUS:(ACTIVE) --> Finds EP grants that have active validations in Germany
EP_ST:(NO OR SE OR DK OR FI) WITH EP_ST_STATUS:VALIDATED--> Finds EP grants that have been validated in at least one of the Scandinavian countries listed.
EP_STM_VALIDATED_CC EP Grants Validated State List The  EP_STM_VALIDATED_CC field holds a list of two letter country codes where an EP grant was validated without regard to the current status of the validation in each state.  Validation means that at least one annuity payment was made in that country, but the current status can be either, ACTIVE, ABANDONED or FULLTERM.

EP_STM_VALIDATED_CC:(DE AND FR AND GB AND IT AND ES) -->  Lists EP grants that were validated in all of the 5 countries listed without regard to their current legal status.
EP_STM_ACTIVE_CC EP Grants Active State List The  EP_STM_ACTIVE_CC field holds a list of two letter country codes where an EP grant was validated and currently active.

EP_STM_ABANDONED_CC:(IT AND ES) -->  Lists EP grants where the validation is active in both Italy and Spain
EP_STM_ABANDONED_CC EP Grants Abandoned Country List The EP_STM_ABANDONED_CC field holds a list of two letter country codes where an EP grant was validated and active, but abandoned prior to becoming a full term patent at 20 years after file date.  It is used to drive our charts and can be used to detect where patents are abandoned.

EP_STM_ABANDONED_CC:(IT AND ES) -->  Lists EP grants where the validation was abandoned in both Italy and Spain
EP_STM_LAPSED_CC EP Grant Lapsed Country List The  EP_STM_LAPSED_CC field holds a list of two letter country codes where an EP grant was designated but not subsequently validated.  Lapsed refers to the fact that the ability to validate the EP grant in that country lapsed, not that it was actively abandoned (EP_STM_ABANDONED_CC is used for that).   For a member state to be flagged as Lapsed, it has to first be designated, then we need to receive a signal "PG25" that the member state deems the opportunity to validate as having lapsed.

If a member state were designated, but not validated, and no signal was sent that it lapsed, the state code would be in the EP_STM_UNKNOWN_CC bucket.

EP_STM_LAPSED_CC:(DE AND FR AND GB) -->  Lists EP grants where the validation option lapsed in Germany, France and Great Britain.  
EP_STM_FULLTERM_CC EP Grants Full Term State List The  EP_STM_FULLTERM_CC field holds a list of two letter country codes where an EP grant was validated survived to its full 20 year term but is now currently inactive.  It is used to drive AcclaimIP's charts and can be used to detect in which states EP grants survived to full term.

EP_STM_FULLTERM_CC:(BE OR NL OR LU) -->  Lists EP grants where the validation survived to full term in either Belgium, Netherlands or Luxemberg.
EP_STM_UNKNOWN_CC EP Grants Unknown Status State List The  EP_STM_UNKNOWN_CC field holds a list of two letter country codes where an EP grant was designated, but we have no further information relative to its designation status.  

Mostly commonly, we find designated EP states in this bucket when an EP was recently granted. It can take up to two years before we receive a positive or negative signal from a member state.

A second for a designated state to be deemed UNKNOWN is that some of the smaller EP states don't regularly report the status of the EP grants validated in that country.

EP_STM_UNKNOWN_CC:(DE AND AT AND CH) -->  Lists EP grants designated in DE, AT and CH with no further validation available at this time.
EP_ST_STATUS Status of EP Member State The EP_ST_STATUS field holds the status of each member state.  There are 5 possible states for each EP member state.

1, ACTIVE -- Active in EP State
2. ABANDONED -- Once validated but currently abandoned in EP State
3. LAPSED -- Never validated in EP State. The opportunity to validated has lapsed
4. FULLTERM -- EP is inactive in validated state after having survived full term
5. UNKNOWN -- No information on status of EP State at this time

Be sure to recognized the difference between Abandoned and Lapsed. In both cases the patent is inactive in the particular state, but for portfolio analysis there is an important distinction between the two.

Unknown deserves a little extra explanation. Unknown means there is no information for that jurisdiction. Reasons include lack or reporting which is common in smaller member states. Also, brand new EP grants have no validation status information for up to two years. In this case AcclaimIP reports the GP grant as active but the validation status for each designated state is UNKNOWN.

EP_ST_STATUS:ACTIVE WITH EP_ST:(DE OR FR OR GB) WITH EP_ST_FEE_YR:[14 to 20]-->  Lists EP grants in DE or FR or GB with a fee year between 14 and 20 years.
EP_ST_TYPE Type of Relationship with the EPO The EP_ST_TYPE field holds one of three values and is used to segregate member' states into the type of affiliation they have with the EPO.  EP member states are divided into three categories.

Contracting (C) -- 38 states
Validation (V) -- 5 states
Extension (E) -- 2 states

Contracting states are full members and there are currently 38 countries/states with full EPO membership status.

Validation states is a a list of 5 member states including, Cambodia, Georgia, Moldova, Morocco and Tunisia. Extension states are currently limited Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Montenegro. Validation and Extension States typically do not report the status of patents validated in those countries.

EP_ST_TYPE:(V OR E) WITH EP_ST_STATUS:ACTIVE  -->  Shows all currently known active EP grants in Validation and Extension states.
   
EP_ST_LE_CODE EP Legal Event Code The EP_ST_LE_CODE field code holds the code passed to AcclaimIP for a specific event.  Mostly commonly you'll see PG25 which is an abandonment/lapsed code, and PGFP (post grant fees paid) which indicates that a payment was made.

EP_ST_LE_CODE can be combined with the WITH operator to find specific events in specific countries and dates.

EP_ST_LE_CODE:PG25 WITH EP_ST:FR WITH EP_ST_FEE_REC_DT:2021 --> FInds EP Grants that were abandoned or lapsed in France in 2021.



EP_ST_FEE_YR Fee Year of Most Recent Annuity Payment EP_ST_FEE_YEAR field holds in integer from 1 to 20 (not a date) indicating the fee year of the most recent annuity payment. Fee year is determine by the number of years from the filing date of the EP grant and is paid in advance.

To illustrate, a year 10 payment is due on the 9th anniversary of the file date of the EPO patent application. In the following examples, pay attention to the WITH operator. It is like an AND, however WITH requires that both value be in the same row of the EP grant's validation record.

EP_ST_FEE_YEAR:[15 to 20] --> Returns EP grants where any payment was made in any state on fee years 15 to 20

EP_ST_FEE_YEAR:[15 to 20] WITH EP_ST:(DE AND FR) --> Returns EP grants surviving to at least year 15 in BOTH Germany and France.

EP_ST_FEE_YEAR:[15 to 20] WITH EP_ST:(DE AND FR) WITH EP_ST_STATUS:ACTIVE -->  Returns EP grants surviving to at least year 15 in BOTH Germany and France with an Active current status.
EP_ST_FEE_DT Date EP Member State Made Annuity Payment EP_ST_FEE_DT is a date field which holds a date in the format YYYY-MM-DD on which the most recent annuity payment was made.  It can be queried with a specific date or a range of dates.

EP_ST_FEE_DT:[2020 to NOW] -->  Finds EP grants where the most recent annuity payment was from Jan 1, 2020 to today.
EP_ST_FEE_REC_DT Date EP Member States Annuity Payment was Recorded EP_ST_FEE_REC_DT is a date field which holds a date in the format YYYY-MM-DD on which the most recent annuity payment was recorded.  The recordation date is typically from one month to six months after the actual payment was made.  AcclaimIP can only see payment events after they have been recorded by the respective national patent office.

It is often useful to use with the EP_ST for finding recorded payments for specific member states.

EP_ST_FEE_REC_DT:2021 WITH EP_ST:DE -->  Finds EP grants where the most recent annuity payment was in 2021 from Germany



EP_STM_VALIDATED_CT Number of Validated EP States The EP_STM_VALIDATED_CT holds an integer or range which counts the number of designated member states irrespective of their current status.  To be counted the member state must have received at least one annuity payment but the current status of any state can be active, abandoned or fullterm.

EP_STM_VALIDATED_CT:[10 TO *] AND  EP_STM_ACTIVE_CT:[5 TO *]  -->  Finds EP grants which were validated in at least 10 member states of which at least 5 are currently still active.
EP_STM_CT Number of Designated EP States If a member state is designated, then it appears in AcclaimIP's Validation Data tab, and that state's status will be tracked for the life of the patent.

The EP_STM_CT counts the number of designated states. Since designation happen prior to grant, both EP apps and grants can hold a count of the number of designated states.

EP_STM_CT:38 -->  Finds EP patents and apps designated in all 38 member states.
EP_STM_ACTIVE_CT Number of Active EP States The EP_STM_ACTIVE_CT holds an integer or range which counts the number of validated member states which  are currently active.

EP_STM_ACTIVE_CT:[10 to *] -->  Lists EP grants that were validated and currently active in at least 10 member states.
EP_STM_ABANDONED_CT Number of Abandoned EP States The EP_STM_ABANDONED_CT holds an integer or range which counts the number of validated member states which  are currently abandoned.

EP_STM_ABANDONED_CT:[10 to *] -->  Lists EP grants that were once active and validated in at least 10 member states but have subsequently been abandoned.
EP_STM_LAPSED_CT Number of Lapsed EP States The EP_STM_LAPSED_CT holds an integer or range which counts the number of designated and subsequently lapsed member states which received a PG25 lapsed signal from the respective national patent office.

It is useful to measure the percent of matters where 100% of designated were subsequently validated.

EP_STM_LAPSED_CT:0 AND EP_STM_UNKNOWN_CT:0 -->  Lists EP grants where all the designated states were validated.  I.e. Nothing lapsed and nothing is unknown.
EP_STM_FULLTERM_CT Number of Full Term EP States The EP_STM_FULLTERM_CT holds an integer or range which counts the number of validated member states which  survived to their full 20 year term.

EP_STM_FULLTERM_CT:0 -->  Lists EP grants where no member states survived to full term.
EP_STM_UNKNOWN_CT Number of Unknown EP States The EP_STM_LAPSED_CT holds an integer or range which counts the number of designated and subsequently lapsed member states which received a PG25 lapsed signal from the respective national patent office.

It is useful to measure the percent of matters where 100% of designated were subsequently validated.

EP_STM_LAPSED_CT:0 AND EP_STM_UNKNOWN_CT:0 -->  Lists EP grants where all the designated states were validated.  I.e. Nothing lapsed and nothing is unknown.

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