Information for external partners and potential visitors to the EPO
1 March 2020
The European Patent Office is closely monitoring the spread of the novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) worldwide.
In response to the latest developments and in line with recommendations issued by international health authorities, the Office has adopted the following precautionary measures for all of its sites:
- External partners are kindly requested to abstain from visiting the EPO if they have recently visited China, the “red area” of Italy (Bertonico, Casalpusterlengo, Castelgerundo, Castiglione d’Adda, Codogno, Fombio, Maleo, San Fiorano, Somaglia, Terranova dei Passerini and Vò) and South Korea.
- Meetings of up to 50 (external) participants will go ahead as planned (under the precautions stated above). For other meetings, decisions will be taken on a case-by-case basis and participants will be notified of any cancellation in due time prior to the event.
- All duty travel to China, the “red area” of Italy (Bertonico, Casalpusterlengo, Castelgerundo, Castiglione d’Adda, Codogno, Fombio, Maleo, San Fiorano, Somaglia, Terranova dei Passerini and Vò) and South Korea has been cancelled until further notice.
- Please note that, in view of the current situation, the EPO is not obliging staff to undertake duty travel to any destination. As a result, some external meetings may be postponed or conducted via videoconferencing.
The EPO will continue to monitor the situation and take appropriate measures as the situation evolves.
