Insights

The thorny issue of the patentability (or otherwise) of inventions involving computer simulations at the EPO has been provided with an ending, of sorts, with the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBoA) issuing their decision for referral G1/19. This is the culmination of the referral which began in 2019, with three questions on this issue having...

The latest changes to the EPO Guidelines for Examination provide several updates in relation to the patent protection of (i) plants and animals, (ii) human-derived cells, and (iii) methods of treatment by therapy. These updates entered into force on 1 March 2021. i) Patent protection of plants and animals Most notably, following the Enlarged Board...

The European Patent Office (EPO) has recently undertaken revisions to its Guidelines for Examination.  Included in the changes, due to come into force on 1 March 2021, is new section G-II, 3.6.4 that has been introduced to provide guidance on the examination of “database management systems and information retrieval”. When computer-implemented inventions are examined by...

The European Patent Office (EPO) has recently published upcoming changes to the rules regarding the providing of inventor address information to the EPO, and the publishing of inventor address information by the EPO. Changes to the designation of the inventor: European patent applications must designate the inventor(s). Presently, this ‘designation of the inventor’ must identify...

The EPO’s updated Guidelines for Examination for March 2021 introduces a significant change regarding amendments required to the description before a European Patent Application can be granted. The EPO has for many years required that inconsistencies between the description and the claims be avoided, because these can lead to a lack of clarity and can...