International Patent Institute

The International Patent Institute (IIB) (French: Institut International des Brevets) was an intellectual property organisation established on June 6, 1947 in The Hague, Netherlands, by a set of European countries, i.e. France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. It was integrated into the European Patent Organisation on January 1, 1978. Its purpose was to centralize patent searching and archiving as well as the resources needed for the prior art searches for its member countries.[1]

The integration of the International Patent Institute and the European Patent Organisation led to the creation of the European Patent Office's branch in Rijswijk in the Netherlands, a town close to The Hague. This branch is one of three locations (along with Munich and Berlin) where European patent applications may be filed.