Patent Baristas

From Dr. Matthew Barton, a UK Chartered Patent Attorney and European Patent Attorney at Forresters: We have learnt that the EPO has made formal proposals to remove the current two-year time limit for filing divisionals. At the present time applicants may only file voluntary divisionals within two years from the first examination report in a family of […]

A process which involves removal of a stem cell from a human embryo at the blastocyst stage, entailing the destruction of that embryo, cannot be patented. Last week the Court of Justice of the European Union issued a judgment in the case of Brüstle v Greenpeace e.V (Case C 34/10) in which it banned the […]

If an authority grants two patents for the same invention to the same applicant, that is double patenting. In most European states the law requires that one of the patents must cease. Since it started, the European Patent Office (EPO) official view has been that it should not allow double patenting. The Guidelines for Examination […]

The European Patent Office (“EPO”) recently announced that most of its fees will increase by between 5 and 8 per cent from April 1, 2010.  A summary of the new fees is shown here. What does this all mean to you? If you know that you want to enter the European regional phase of a […]

The therapeutic use of that substance cannot be patented because that use is a method of treatment of a human or animal body by surgery, therapy or diagnosis which is practiced on that human or animal body. Methods of treatment are regarded in Europe as not being capable of industrial application and are consequently not […]

The EPO Enlarged Board of Appeal handed down its decision relating to the interpretation of the exclusion for patentability under article 53(c) EPC “method for treatment of the human or animal body by surgery”. Questions were asked to the Enlarged Board in a case about a medical imaging method, whereby a contrast agent was injected […]

The Administrative Council of the EPO decided, in March 2009, to make significant changes to the Implementing Rules of the European Patent Convention (EPC). These changes will enter into force on April 1, 2010 and will have a significant impact on the grant procedure before the EPO. Introduction of a new time limit for filing […]

The European Patent Office (EPO) has announced more important rule changes, as part of its drive to speed up prosecution without apparently requiring any more from its examiners.  The new rules will come into force on 1 April 2010. Of particular note is that two of the new rule changes are actually beneficial to applicants! […]