Clik here to view.
EPO – Bringing Fun to the Teams
In June 2022 the EPO announced the project “Bringing Teams Together”, introducing a new management of office space with the aim “to ensure that teams cluster in our buildings when working on site”. The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Plausibility in G2/21: has the elephant left the room?
The concept of plausibility has caused great controversy in European patent law in recent years. It was hoped that the decision of the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) of the EPO in G 2/21 would bring...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The UPC Takes Shape and Color
With less than 2 weeks to go before 1 June 2023, it was about time for the UPC to tie several loose ends and to clarify various questions before becoming (more or less) fully operative. Here is an...
View ArticleClik here to view.
G 1/23 „Solar Cell“ – Existing Products in a new Light?
In decision T 438/19 Technical Board of Appeal 3.3.03 has ex officio (!) referred three questions of law to the Enlarged Board of Appeal (now handled as G 1/23) in order to resolve a perceived...
View ArticleClik here to view.
EPO Propaganda Master Class – or: How to Justify Higher Fees for Lower...
It will be nothing new for regular readers of this blog that I and many others have long been advocating for more well-qualified examiners at the EPO, e.g. here. Obviously, these examiners also need to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
EPO makes correct diagnosis but prescribes the wrong medication with the...
The EPO has proposed new amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal (RPBA) to support more ambitious timeliness objectives. In our view, they are unlikely to shorten appeal...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Talking Turkey at the EPO
A recent letter by the EPO’s Central Staff Committee (CSC) about Rewarding quality in the core business is too important and far too well-written to remain unnoticed. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it...
View ArticleClik here to view.
BREAKING: The EPO is able to listen
…well, at least the EPO’s Boards of Appeal, represented by their President Mr. Josefsson, are. Mr. Josefsson announced in the Boards of Appeal and key decisions 2023 conference just a few minutes ago...
View ArticleClik here to view.
T 1137/21 – Even Amendments based solely on Original Dependent Claims may be...
The EPO’s Boards of Appeal are famously strict on added matter. But normally applicants can sleep soundly at night after making amendments based entirely on the original dependent claims having...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Trying to Make Sense of the Oracle of G 2/21: T 116/18 vs. T 681/21
Following the issuance of G 2/21 last year, we asked whether the plausibility elephant had left the room. Our Kluwer colleague and friend Miquel Montañá discussed this issue more recently here. Several...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to Avoid Banana Skins on the Path towards a more Unified Patent System
There are now three interesting developments, albeit in quite different areas, which have in common the effort to avoid stepping on banana skins on the path towards a more unified patent system. The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The EPO – Lost in Regard to Translations?
All in all, the EPO can rightly be proud of the high quality of the translations it currently offers to its users. Many of my clients have been using the EPO’s translation services when (part of) a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
EPO Patent Quality: Where do we come from, where do we stand, and where are...
1. Preamble: The Iron Triangle In project management there is a law known as the Iron Triangle, which states that in delivering any project, there are three points on a metaphorical triangle:...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sustainability and IP
A report on OxViews 9th IP and Competition Forum and the Osnabrücker Patenttage 2024 The question on how intellectual property and specifically patents can contribute to sustainable innovations that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Breaking news: Referral on claim interpretation at the EPO
Following months of speculation, EPO Board of Appeal 3.2.01 yesterday issued decision T 439/22 referring questions to the Enlarged Board of Appeal on the extent to which the description and drawings...
View ArticleClik here to view.
First Lessons on Validity before the UPC
The first decisions by the Central Division Munich, the Local Division Paris and the Local Division Düsseldorf adjudging a patent’s validity in main proceedings are now out. Taken together, they...
View ArticleClik here to view.
La Zizanie de l’OEB sur l’Adaptation de la Description
We have long meant to write something about the need, or the lack thereof, for adapting the description to amended claims. The announcement in the second preliminary opinion of Technical Board of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Risky Game with Divisionals
This will only be a very short post, but one important new development on the borderline of patent law and antitrust law shall not be left unnoticed on this blog. The European Commission has fined Teva...
View ArticleClik here to view.
An SPC Present from the Christmas Court
It’s this time of the year again – merry Christmas, happy holidays and/or best wishes for whatever you are celebrating next week. This year’s Christmas present comes from the CJEU and is specifically...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Patent Attorneys, Democracy and the UPC
A famous joke that must now be over 30 years old quips about the strength of the (German) patent attorney profession: „If all German patent attorneys and their families decide to settle in a single...
View Article