Open Patent Services (OPS)

Open Patent Services (OPS) is a web service which provides access to the EPO's raw data via a standardised XML interface. It does this using RESTful architecture.

OPS data is extracted from the EPO's bibliographic, worldwide legal status, full-text and image databases. It is therefore from the same sources as the Espacenet and European Patent Register data.

With OPS you can:

  • add EPO data to your own software applications or in-house databases
  • develop tailor-made clients 
  • download large volumes of data

Getting started:

Get your own credentials to test the developers’ area. Simply follow these five steps:

  1. Register to get access credentials
  2. Log in and define a test app for testing
  3. Test the system by clicking APIs in the menu
  4. Define your apps and handle authentication (using "OAuth")
  5. Add them to your script

How to test OPS web services (GET and POST):

Testing available for registered users only. Get your own credentials to test the developers’ area. Simply follow these steps:

  1. Login with your active user credentials
  2. Create test App file or add your own App(s) to My Apps area in Developer’s Console
  3. Choose which service you want to test
  4. Change/insert your query parameters
  5. Request the token by clicking on “Set OAut 2.0”
  6. Click on “Send this Request” button to get the test response

Documentation:

Please refer to the appropriate documentation for further information:

  1. OPS User reference guide and other reference documentation
  2. How to test OPS using Developer portal tools Quick help