News & Analysis as of September 18, 2024

European Patent Convention

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The European Union is an economic and political partnership comprised of 27 nations within the Eurozone. The EU was established in 1948 to promote stability and cooperation among member states in the aftermath of WWII. The EU maintains a common currency as well as several intranational institutions, including the European Parliament and the European Commission. less -

Legal Lens on the Unified Patent Court | April 2024

McDermott Will & Emery on 4/30/2024

The Unified Patent Court (UPC) is revolutionizing the way patents are enforced in Europe, and McDermott’s intellectual property team is here to help you navigate this dynamic landscape. Our Legal Lens on the Unified Patent...more

Finish in Eight Months: The EPO Sets Timeline for New Accelerated Opposition Practice

Jones Day on 3/6/2024

The European Patent Office ("EPO") has committed to specific timelines for its new practice of accelerating opposition proceedings....more

EPO Enlarged Board of Appeal Raises Bar for Challenging Priority Claims at the EPO

Fish & Richardson on 11/2/2023

Challenges to the validity of the “Patent Cooperation Treaty joint applicant” have been a problem for many applicants at the European Patent Office. On October 10, 2023, the EPO’s highest authority, the Enlarged Board of...more

European Patent Office Makes Major Changes in Priority Entitlement

Cooley LLP on 10/30/2023

The Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) has issued a new dual decision – G1/22 and G2/22 – dealing with the assessment of priority rights at the EPO. The decision represents a significant break from...more

Some Much-Needed (Applicant-Friendly) Clarification on Priority Claims at the European Patent Office

Goodwin on 10/23/2023

On October 10, 2023, the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) issued a consolidated decision in cases G1/22 and G2/22 clarifying a common issue regarding the validity of a priority claim made at the...more

IP Owners Beware: The Fast Approaching European Unitary Patent System and Unified Patent Court

Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth on 3/31/2023

Background - As has been widely reported, major changes are looming for the European patent landscape. After many years of preparatory work and negotiations, Europe’s new Unified Patent Court (UPC) is expected to open for...more

European Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court

Ladas & Parry LLP on 10/24/2022

In 1973, in response to concerns about the costs of securing patent protection in Europe, the European Patent Convention was signed to set up a common patent office to examine patent applications for any European country that...more

Major Change to European Patent System in 2023 to Impact Patent Owners' Portfolios

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati on 10/24/2022

A major change to the European patent system is expected in 2023. Currently, patent owners: 1) validate European patents in individual States, 2) pay renewal fees, and 3) enforce the patent independently in each individual...more

The Unitary Patent System: How to Prepare

Fox Rothschild LLP on 6/2/2022

The Unitary Patent system in Europe has been a long time coming. Started in December 2012 by regulations approved by the European Parliament, it will finally apply with the entry into force of the Unified Patent Court (UPC)...more

The Unified Patent Court is (Finally) Coming to Europe and Bringing Some Pretty Fundamental Changes with It

Goodwin on 4/20/2022

Seven years after the Member States of the EU signed the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (“UPCA”), the Unitary Patent (“UP”) and the Unified Patent Court (“UPC”) are likely to commence during the second half of 2022. This...more

Considerations For Applicants and Practitioners Due to Recent EPC Guidelines Regarding Description Amendment Requirements

BakerHostetler on 3/7/2022

Article 84 of the European Patent Convention (EPC) requires that the claims of a European patent application “shall define the matter for which protection is sought” and “shall be clear and concise and be supported by the...more

Legislative Intent Trumps Legitimate Interest: EPO Confirms Double Patenting as a Ground for Refusal

Jones Day on 7/5/2021

The EPO confirmed that a European patent application can be refused on the basis of double patenting under Articles 97(2) and 125 EPC, if a patent with the same effective date has already been granted for the same subject...more

European Patent Office (EPO) Upholds Foundational CRISPR Patent Owned by UC, Univ. of Vienna, and Charpentier

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati on 2/14/2020

On February 10, 2020, the European Patent Office Opposition Division announced the results of an opposition filed against patent EP2800811, owned by the Regents of University of California, University of Vienna, and Emanuelle...more

Happy BREXIT Day! What Happens to your EU and UK Intellectual Property?

Winstead PC on 2/3/2020

European and UK patents are not impacted by Brexit. The European Patent Office (EPO) is established under the European Patent Convention (EPC). The EPC is separate from the European Union and the UK is, now, one of several...more

Patent Litigation: Dutch Court of Appeal guidance on formal entitlement to priority

Hogan Lovells on 8/16/2019

On 30 July, the Court of Appeal of The Hague ruled on the formal entitlement to priority following from a US provisional patent application. The attack on priority in this case is part of a recent trend by parties in patent...more

Alert: The EPO’s Approach to the Patentability of Plant-Related Inventions

Cooley LLP on 3/19/2019

Last month, the European Patent Office (EPO) issued the much anticipated Written Decision associated with case T1063/18. We have previously written about this case in our alert "EPO May Return to Patenting Plants Obtained by...more

Alert: EPO May Return to Patenting Plants Obtained by an Essentially Biological Process

Cooley LLP on 12/17/2018

On December 5, 2018, a Technical Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) announced that a recently introduced rule, which prohibits the grant of patents in respect of plants or animals exclusively obtained by...more

We Celebrate What 40 Years of PCT and EPO Have Done for the Patent System

Ladas & Parry LLP on 6/1/2018

We salute the originators and implementers of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and the European Patent Convention (EPO) on their fortieth anniversary and look forward to continued use of both long into the future....more

Gap of Information is Reason for Revoking a European Patent

Jones Day on 4/20/2018

The Situation: In European patent law, opposition against a patent grant can be based only on particular grounds, with one of the grounds being insufficiency of disclosure, meaning that the invention is not disclosed clearly...more

Disclaimers Double Standard Acknowledged by European Patent Office

Jones Day on 3/9/2018

The Situation: A recent decision by the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office confirmed that a 2011 ruling dealing with disclosed disclaimers does not overrule its 2004 decision applying to undisclosed...more

Brexit Bill - Impact on patents

Hogan Lovells on 11/15/2017

The UK government’s draft EU Withdrawal Bill (the “Brexit Bill“) aims to incorporate EU directives and regulations into UK domestic law in their current form immediately following Brexit (“Retained EU Law“). This article...more

Preparing European Priority Applications for Stronger U.S. Patents

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C. on 11/9/2017

The current U.S. patent climate mandates a heightened focus on quality prosecution. For consumer product companies headquartered in Europe, and for those that regularly innovate there, this means preparing and filing European...more

Clarifying or Conforming? The EPO Bows to the European Commission

Jones Day on 7/17/2017

In December, we reported that the European Commission ("Commission") had issued an Interpretive Notice (2016/C 411/03) stating products produced by essentially biological processes should not be patentable. The notice came as...more

Whoops, I did not want to file that European Application. Can I get a Do-Over?

Miles & Stockbridge P.C. on 7/10/2017

It is rare, but there are times where one will file a European Application (EA) and then change their mind due to business considerations. Filing fees are a significant part of the fees associated with filing an EA....more

Antidote to Toxic Divisionals—European Patent Office Rules on Partial Priorities

Jones Day on 3/16/2017

Beginning in 2009, the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office ("EPO") issued a series of decisions that essentially created a new priority law in Europe that allowed members of the same patent family to negate each...more

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