Epoline 24/7

The EPO have finally given in, probably to pressure originating from other time zones, and made the European patent register (epoline) fully available "24/7", according to an announcement here. The IPKat assumes this to mean that the register, which until now was only available in full during European working hours, will now be viewable all day, every day. This is, of course, very good news for anyone interested in obtaining information about patent prosecution at other times of the day. US and Japanese practitioners, in particular, will presumably be very happy with this.

Merpel pedantically wonders whether this should in fact mean "23.5/7", since the EPO still apparently need half an hour each morning to do some offline tinkering. It doesn't, however, have quite the same ring to it.

More services available 24/7 here, here and here.