08/12/2005 (Agence Europe) - In Beijing on 5 December, the European Patents Office (EPO) and the Chinese Patent Office celebrated twenty years of cooperation. EPO President Alain Pompidou said cooperating with industrial states undergoing strong expansion, like China, is one of the pillars of the EPO's policy. Launched in the 1970s under the initiative of Johannes Bob van Benthem, the first EPO President, it turned into genuine cooperation in 1985, becoming a close partnership. Once a year, the Presidents of the two offices meet up to decide on the broad outline of cooperation under a protocol agreement. Given the mushrooming of patents in China, the EPO has extended its patent information services for Eastern Asia to China and helps EU companies make use of Chinese databases.