EPO communications under Rule 161(1) and Rule 162 EPC are among those legal changes which entered into force on April 1, 2010 and are intended for realigning the European patent grant procedure.…
The G3/08 opinion concerns the long-awaited view of the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBoA) on the patentability of computer programs. The EBoA examined various issues regarding Article 112(1)(b) EPC.…
The Board considered whether the introduction of the EPC 2000 raised the requirements for a notice of appeal to be admissible. Rule 99(1)(c) EPC 2000 requires that the notice of appeal contains 'a…
Schütz owned two patents relating to the field of intermediate bulk containers or 'IBCs', which are large plastic bottles contained in cages and used to transport hazardous liquids. Schütz objected…
Since 01.04.2010 an applicant of a European patent application must respond to the search opinion drawn up by the search division as if it was a communication of the examining division (see new Rule…
A growing number of decisions illustrate the divergences of solutions which can exist between the various national courts with respect to the various national designations of a same European patent.…
In a judgment of 11 December 2009, the Commercial Court of Antwerp invalidated the Belgian part of EP 0 663 828 of Sepracor for lack of inventive step. This patent claims the use of the active…
German courts (and German attorneys) have been quite creative to improve the position of the patentee in litigation in the past. Last year the Olanzapine- decision of the Appeals Court in Düsseldorf…
One of the topics most hotly discussed before the Spanish Courts over the last few years is whether the legal effects of the TRIPS' provisions on patents are governed by Community law or by the…
The “nail-Byting” in the Computer IP community came to an end on 12 May 2010 when the EPO’s Enlarged Board of Appeal finally handed down its opinion in the “Programs for Computers” case. The opinion…
