(a) Advantages of the invention that have only become evident once the invention was made, and at which therefore the skilled person would not have directed his efforts to further develop the state…
The strict formalistic approach adopted by the EPO on many issues can easily lead to the applicant being trapped between various requirements of the EPC. One particularly well-known problem is the…
With its judgment of March 5, 2015 (I-2 U 16/14), the Higher Regional Court (HRC) Dusseldorf reversed the first-instance decision and has now come to same conclusion as did the High Court of Justice…
On 24 March, 2015, the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the EPO, the final judicial arbiter of the interpretation of the European Patent Convention, issued Decision G 3/14 addressing the question of when,…
One area where the practice of the EPO and the German Federal Court of Justice (FCJ) could not be further apart was the assessment of added matter. While the FCJ traditionally had been very lenient…
A first review of the EPO’s proposals for the EP-UE renewal fees in comparison to the current rates
by Thorsten Bausch and Greg Sach
The EPO, or more specifically the president of the EPO, has…
by Anja Petersen-Padberg
The Federal Court of Justice decided in the "Electric Kettle" case (25.06.2014, docket X ZR 72/13) that the placing of goods in transit proceedings does not infringe a patent…
by Stephan Disser
The German Federal Court of Justice (FCJ) has just issued its written decision in the case "Repaglinid" (X ZR 128/09). As far as can be seen, the decision is not yet available on…
by Niels Hölder and Thomas Koch
In “Zugriffsrechte” (Access Rights) (docket X ZR 35/11), the Federal Court of Justice decided that a claim can in principle not be construed such that it covers none…
