EPO

G 1/25, the long-awaited decision on adaptation of the description, was issued today. Adaptation will continue to be required at the EPO, but only if a claim amendment introduces an inconsistency…

This is just a short post on an interesting new development on exceptions to the EPO’s strict approach to admissibility on appeal. T 715/24 reason 2 suggests that claim interpretation is to be…

G 1/25 addresses a particularly controversial feature of EPO practice: the requirement to adapt the description. The long-anticipated hearing on G 1/25 took place on 8 May 2026, and unfolded in a…

I reported last year on the three-part article series published in EPI Information by Tamaris Bucher, Principal Patent Attorney at Novartis, on the EPO’s approach to assessing inventive step for…

EPO practice on added matter is well known to be strict, with many patents being revoked using this principle every year. Particularly tricky during EPO opposition proceedings is the “inescapable…

In patent law, the concept of “prior art” or “state of the art” describes the universe of information which existed and was made available to the public by means of a written or oral description, by…

T 1913/21 has received attention for nicely illustrating the difference between process claims and second non-medical use claims —a category of claims shaped by landmark Enlarged Board decisions G 2…

In less than 15 days, the Enlarged Board of Appeals (“EBA”) handed down two major decisions in relation to patent validity: (i) one relating to claim construction when assessing the patentability of…

As discussed at length here, in T 56/21 3.3.04 came close to referring this issue to the Enlarged Board before getting cold feet. 3.3.02 have now taken up the gauntlet in T 697/22 and referred the…