欧洲专利局成立于1977年,有17国家受理专利申请并发放专利证。 欧洲专利局总部设在慕尼黑,在海牙、柏林和维也纳设有分支机构,拥有来自17个来成员国的4,000工作人员,其开支全由自己负担,经费全部来源于专利税款。 欧洲专利局成立二十年来,欧洲国家在专利领域的合作不断加强,已成为欧洲在经济合作方面的典范。欧洲专利局的业务迅速扩大,1990年,该局全年接受专利申请6 The European Patent Office was established in 1977 with 17 countries accepting patent applications and issuing patent certificates. Headquartered in Munich, the European Patent Office has offices in The Hague, Berlin and Vienna, with 4,000 staff members from 17 member countries, all at their own expense, financed exclusively from royalties. Since the establishment of the European Patent Office for two decades, the European countries have continuously strengthened their cooperation in the patent field and have become a model for European economic cooperation. The European Patent Office has rapidly expanded its operations and in 1990 it received patent applications throughout the year6