Georgia will become the fifth validating state of the EPO, joining Morocco, Republic of Moldova, Tunisia and Cambodia. The validation agreement is expected to come into force on 1 January 2024. Accordingly, it is likely that applicants will be able to request protection in Georgia through European patent applications filed after 1 January 2024.
Patents
A Second Medical Use Application Requires Data Supporting the Medical Use
In recent Technical Board of Appeal (TBA) case T0258/21 the TBA reiterated settled case law that data is required in the application as filed to support a second medical use claim. Post filed evidence was submitted, purportedly to support the technical effect of the Application. The TBA found that the post filed data should not … Read More
Presumption of Entitlement to Claim Priority
The EPO Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) recently answered questions referred under consolidated cases G 1/22 and G 2/22, and has introduced a welcome relaxation in practice in the assessment of the validity of a priority claim. The EBA found the EPO to be competent to assess whether a party is entitled to claim priority, … Read More
Abolition of the 10 Day Rule
The “10-day” rule, which determines how the response deadlines to certain European Patent Office (EPO) communications are calculated, is to be abandoned from 1 November 2023. The 10 day rule was introduced to compensate for postal delays but is no longer considered necessary since most documents are issued electronically. Communications issued from 1 November 2023 … Read More
European Unitary Patent to come into effect from 1 June 2023
The Unified Patent Court (UPC) will become operational on 1 June 2023 heralding the start of the Unitary Patent Convention. A large number of opt outs from the jurisdiction of the UPC are being filed, and we would advise that any opt out is filed sooner rather than later to avoid any last minute rush.
Confidentiality of Medical Trials
The confidentiality of medical trials was examined in recent EPO board of appeal case T 0670/20. During phase IIa and IIb clinical trials conducted prior to the filing of patent application EP2140867, tablets of anti-blood clot agent edoxaban were distributed. Under European law, is not necessary to show that a disclosure has in fact taken … Read More
Hindsight in Assessment of Inventive Step
The EPO favours the problem-solution approach in the assessment of inventive step. This involves identifying the closest prior art, as the prior art document that provides the most promising starting point for an obviousness attack. However, the step of identification of the closest prior art in the problem-solution approach creates a potential tension with one of … Read More
Compliance Period for UK Divisional Patent Applications Shortened
From Monday 1 May 2023, UK divisional applications will be accorded a compliance period which is equal to the original and un-extended compliance period of the parent application. In accordance with the amendments to the UK Patents Rules 2007 (as amended), from Monday 1 May 2023, the UKIPO will attribute to a divisional application filed … Read More
Republic of Moldova invited to accede to European Patent Convention
On 13 December 2022, the EPO Administrative Council invited Moldova to accede to the European Patent Convention (EPC). Moldova has been a validation state of the EPC since 2015, and is now expected to become the 40th contracting state to the EPC.
UPC: Postponed
The start of the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA) was delayed today by two months. The sunrise period will now start on 1 March 2023 followed by entry into force of the UPCA on 1 June 2023. This delay is thought to be required to allow further time for users to get to grips with … Read More