European Patent Office Launches New Fee Reduction Scheme to Support Micro-Entities

money
In good news for individuals and smaller businesses with little experience of the European patent system, the European Patent Office will shortly be introducing additional discounts on some of its fees for certain applicants. However, there are strict and complex requirements on eligibility and caution should be used in deciding whether or not...
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2450 Hits

Validation of European Patents in Georgia

Georgia
On 15 January 2024, the Republic of Georgia will become the 45th country in which patent protection may be obtained via a European patent. The "validation" agreement between Georgia and the European Patent Organisation was signed on 31 October 2019, and will come into force this month. The European Patent Organisation currently has 39 Member States...
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2119 Hits

Right to priority in European Patent Applications - EPO decides there is a rebuttable presumption of validity

PriorityRight
The Enlarged Board of Appeal at the European Patent Office (EPO) has now issued its written decision in consolidated cases G1/22 and G2/22. The Enlarged Board of Appeal concludes that the EPO is competent to assess priority entitlement and that there is a rebuttable presumption that an applicant claiming priority in accordance with the formal requi...
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1540 Hits

Goodbye to the "Ten Day Rule" at the EPO

TenDays
The EPO's idiosyncratic "ten day rule" relevant to calculating notified deadlines is being abolished in November. Many a European patent attorney has been thankful for the EPO's ten day rule after receipt of very late instructions to proceed with filing a response. This peculiarity of EPO practice has its origin in the days of postal ...
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1464 Hits

Practical Tips for Patenting Antibodies in Europe

Antibody
The patenting of proteins is well established in Europe as long as they meet the requirements of novelty and inventive step.Antibodies are a specific type of protein, and to obtain useful patent protection for these, there are specific requirements to take into consideration.We have previously written about the European Patent Office's Guidelines f...
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2346 Hits

Developing Drugs for Developing World Diseases: The Role of Patents

Mosquito
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought the issue of patents for medicines (in particular vaccines in the case of Covid) to the fore.From the debate surrounding enhancing distribution of Covid vaccines in the developing world by implementing a patent waiver, it is clear that the oft-heard argument that intellectual property to protect such vital products...
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2250 Hits

Williams Powell wins MIP award of European Cross-Border Patent Litigation Team

Managing-IP-Award
We are delighted to announce that Williams Powell was presented with the special award of European Cross-Border Patent Litigation Team of the Year for the Stephen Thaler v Comptroller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (DABUS) case at the prestigious Managing IP Awards on 15 June 2022. Williams Powell was recognised for the work of Robert ...
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2576 Hits

Sequence Listings Looking Towards the "Big Bang"

BigBang
The beginning of July sees a shake up in how sequence listings are to be presented in patent applications around the world. After almost 25 years, WIPO has updated its standard from ST.25 to ST.26, and relevant patent applications at the International Bureau and in all WIPO contracting states (including both the EPO and the UK IPO) will need to inc...
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2222 Hits

UK Patent Attorneys able to represent clients before the European Unified Patent Court

Representation
It has been confirmed that European patent attorneys having a relevant UK qualification will be able to represent clients directly before the Unified Patent Court. All of Williams Powell's patent attorneys have the relevant qualifications and will therefore be entered on the list of representatives. As previously reported, the new UPC system i...
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2349 Hits

European Unitary Patent in 2022?

Europe
As the European Patent Office announces transitional provisions ready for entry into force of the UPC Agreement, it is starting to look like we may have the first European Unitary Patent within the next year or so. While there will of course be competition to see who manages to get the first Unitary Patent, there are also serious strategi...
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2969 Hits

Plausibility - EPO stays proceedings in view of Enlarged Board Referral

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The European Patent Office has announced a stay of all examination/opposition proceedings involving applications/patents in which the assessment of inventive step is exclusively based on evidence that was not publicly available before the filing date, and in which the decision depends entirely on the outcome of Referral G2/21 (Plausibility), u...
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3431 Hits

A Unified Patent Court for Europe - Coming Soon?

UPC
Europe may soon have its Unified Patent Court and Williams Powell is ready to assist you. With attorneys qualified for the European Patent Litigation Certificate (which gives UPC rights of representation) and as a Patent Attorney Advocate & Litigator (which gives rights of representation in the UK Courts) we are well-placed not only to obtain I...
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2928 Hits

Patent Sufficiency reconsidered by UK Court of Appeal

Sufficiency
This Court of Appeal Decision concerned two families of patents held by FibroGen:Family A and Family B relating to H1F-PH inhibitors for the treatment of (respectively) CKD anaemia (anaemia associated with chronic kidney disease) and ACD (anaemia of chronic disease).Family A was published before the relevant priority date of Family B, and so i...
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2549 Hits

Illumina – Shining a light on DNA Sequencing Technology

Sequence
In this English High Court case relating to the infringement and validity of five patents held by Illumina, Mr Justice Birss decided upon several hot topics in the biotech patenting world. We summarise some of the most interesting points here. The Technology Briefly, the patents related to DNA sequencing technology.More specifically, three of ...
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3257 Hits

Claiming Antibodies in European Patent Applications

Immune
In the past year, we have all heard more about antibodies in the general news than anyone ever desired. When we are exposed to pathogens, antibodies form a vital part of our immune systems in protecting us from deadly diseases.Isolated from the body or synthetically produced, antibodies can have many uses and are particularly important as therapeut...
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3754 Hits

Defining Amino Acid and Nucleic Acid Sequences in European Patent Applications

BioSeq
Welcome guidance on the interpretation of claims to amino acids and nucleic acids defined by their sequences is provided by updated Guidelines for Examination at the European Patent Office now in force. New section F-IV-4.24 sets out that both amino acid sequences and nucleic acid sequences can be defined by "percentage identity". The percenta...
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3279 Hits

European Patent Office pushes use of video conferences in Opposition Division oral proceedings

 As of January 2021, parties will no longer have free choice on whether a hearing (oral proceedings) during examination or opposition is in person or via video conferencing before the European Patent Office (EPO). Video conferences will be the default. 12 months ago, we would have had to fight for a hearing (oral proceedings) to be held with t...
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3360 Hits

Supplementary Protection Certificates: Only for First Use of an Authorised Product

A Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPC) can provide up to five years additional protection for a patented active ingredient of a pharmaceutical product that has received a marketing authorisation. The objective is to compensate a patent holder for the delay in being able to use the patent by the need to obtain the marketing authorisation. An S...
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2264 Hits

UK IPO Calls for Views on Patents for AI Inventions

We have previously written about our involvement in filing and prosecuting patent applications for two inventions created by the AI inventor DABUS, and naming DABUS (the true deviser of the inventions) as the inventor.The UK IPO found the inventions to be both novel and inventive, and therefore, in principle, protectable by patent.  ...
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2636 Hits

UK Patent Courts Warn Against Greedy Claims

Ever since the Decision issued back in 1997 in the case of Biogen v Medeva the concept of insufficiency has been extended, particularly in the chemical and biotech fields, to include claims that have "excessive breadth" (so-called "Biogen insufficiency"). The Courts in the UK have applied this frequently to revoke patents that they decide clai...
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3259 Hits