On 15 September, the European Patent Office (EPO) held a hybrid meeting with Zebra Technologies, an American multinational technology company specialising in smart data capture systems.

As part of the Quality Action Plan initiative to deepen dialogue with users and collect useful feedback, the EPO met Zebra Technologies. This was the 19^th meeting between the EPO and a large applicant in 2026 and the 125^th meeting since the initiative was launched in 2021.

Zebra's delegation was led by Brett Alten, Vice-President and Chief IP Counsel, and Yuri Astvatsaturov, Director Counsel, Head of Patents and Trade Secrets, who both attended in person at the EPO's Munich headquarters. Seven of Zebra’s IP directors based across the United States joined online.

The EPO delegation was headed by Niclas Morey, Principal Director Communications, and brought together EPO senior management, operational directors, team managers and experts from the technical fields relevant to Zebra’s activities.

Focus on patent strategy, quality and advancing digital services

During the meeting, the EPO presented its strategic vision, with a particular emphasis on quality, people, partnerships and tools, including artificial intelligence. The Zebra delegation discussed how the company is redefining its patent filing strategy to use intellectual property more strategically and strengthen its focus on Europe and the Unitary Patent. It also shared some of its latest technological developments with EPO experts.

The delegations exchanged views on the different filing routes, including direct European applications and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) route, as well as validation, reinforced partnership and the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH). The EPO also presented forthcoming improvements in MyEPO, such as the possibility to file PACE (Programme for Accelerated Prosecution of European Patent Applications) requests in bulk. This prompted an exchange on acceleration options and the EPO’s process for accelerated applications.

Mr Alten repeatedly praised the quality of the EPO’s work and excellence in examination. He noted that the company has only heard positive remarks about the Unitary Patent (UP), and emphasised the UP and the Unified Patent Court (UPC) as strong incentives to file at the EPO.

Continued dialogue

Following the meeting, Mr Alten thanked the EPO for the exchanges and enabling Zebra to gain a better understanding of EPO practice. He also stated that he looked forward to building a strong relationship with the EPO and continuing the dialogue regarding Zebra’s IP strategy.

More about Zebra Technologies

Zebra Technologies is a US technology company specialising in smart data capture, including barcode scanning, machine vision, radio-frequency identification, location technologies and robotics. It employs approximately 10 700 people, more than half of whom are engineers, and it reported revenues of approximately USD 5.4 billion last year. Through a series of acquisitions, its portfolio has grown to around 8 000 patents and patent applications worldwide.

Source：European Patent Office (EPO) News；2026-10-20；https://www.epo.org/en/news-events/news/epo-meets-zebra-technologies