PATLIB are Centres that are part of the European Patent Organisation (EPO) that provides patent information by searching available national and international patent databases. The European Patent Organisation (EPO) is an intergovernmental organisation currently having 27 member states (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, Monaco, the Netherlands, Portugal, Rumania, Sweden, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey and United Kingdom). In a near future three further countries will become members of the European Patent Convention (Lithuania, Latvia and Poland). The executive body of the European Patent Organisation - the European Patent Office - has its seat in Munich, a branch in The Hague and sub-offices in Berlin and Vienna. In cooperation with the national patent offices of the member states the EPO supports a Network of patent information centres ("PATLIB Centres") throughout Europe having evolved from a grouping of national PATent LIBraries widely distributed in the member states. A numbers of PATLIB Centres are located in national patent offices and universities. The main aim of the PATLIB Network is for the patent information centres to be able to communicate and to work with each other in a feasible and convenient way.

Source: PATLIB