Pan-European Seal Programme

Launched in 2015, the « Pan European Seal Programme » allows students to work for one year at the European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich (Germany) or at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in Alicante (Spain). This program creates a link between the academic world and the professional world of intellectual property.

At EUIPO, it's an internship. In 2022, the program became the "Pan-European Seal Young Professionals Programme" at EPO; it means you are employee in the first year and the programme can be extended to 2 years if you are interested and selected.

Profile

The two Offices are particularly interested in welcoming students with a background in science and engineering. Only students from the program's partner institutions, which are leaders in their sector, can apply for this internship. The program currently has 80 partner institutions in 35 countries. Each year, 100 internships are offered in each of the two Offices.

ParisTech and the two Offices have signed an agreement in early 2021, making this program ideal for students in science and engieering from ParisTech schools who would like to acquire complementary skills in intellectual property and evolve in an international and intercultural environment.

Training

During their internship, students benefit from

• Coaching by EPO or EUIPO staff,
• Access to online training sessions and, if necessary, language courses,
• Lectures given by the staff of the Offices, representatives of the industry and law firms, and academic staff,
• Advice on career paths in the sector of intellectual property.

Each person receives a certificate upon completion of the course.

Eligibility criteria

• Be nominated by ParisTech (ask the Office of international relations of your school)
• Be a national of one of the EPO and/or EUIPO Member States (EUIPO welcomes also till 10% non EU citizens),
• Have a bachelor's or master's degree (or have completed studies of an equivalent level) in one of the following academic fields

• Have obtained the above-mentioned degree less than two years before the date of application and latest on September 15 in the application year, or be enrolled at university for another degree for the EPO, or still be a student for the EUIPO,
• Have a very good knowledge of at least one of the working languages of both Offices (English, French, German),
• Have completed one of the online courses offered by each Office.
• Having participated in international programs such as Erasmus is considered a plus.

A student cannot apply to both offices at the same time.

Conditions

Conditions are quite different since 2022:

• EUIPO: the internship is paid: 1200 euros gross
• EPO: 
  • health insurance (included private insurance)
  • salary of 2000€ net in the first year, then 3000€ net during the 2nd and the 3rd year

Procedure 

• January - February: Interested students contact the Office of international relations of their school
• End of February: The schools send the list of candidates to ParisTech
• February-March: Online application on the website of the Offices by the candidates. Only students whose names have been forwarded by ParisTech and who have submitted their applications on the Office's website will have their applications examined
  
  • European Patent Office (EPO)
  • European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO)

        May-June: The two Offices announce the results

        Mid-September: Beginning of the internship

Selection criteria of the two Offices are: excellence, academic profile and Offices’ needs.

The two Offices provide educational resources on intellectual property in the framework of

• The EPO’s «IP Teaching Kit»
• The EUIPO Academy Learning Portal.

Discover the program at the European Patent Office in video

Discover the program at the European Union Intellectual Property Office in video

Read the testimonial of Brice Tayama (AgroParisTech) and Baptiste Borowczak (Chimie ParisTech), 2020/2021 interns.