International Patent Institute

The International Patent Institute (IIB) (French: Institut International des Brevets), established on June 6, 1947, in The Hague, Netherlands, was a multinational intellectual property organization founded by four European countries, namely France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Its primary mission was to centralize patent searching, archiving, and resources for prior art searches for its member countries.

On January 1, 1978, the IIB was integrated into the European Patent Organisation. This merger resulted in the creation of a branch of the European Patent Office (EPO) in Rijswijk in the Netherlands, near the Hague. The Rijswijk office is one of three locations along with Munich and Berlin, where European patent applications may be filed.

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