The doctrine of equivalents is a staple patent law principle, addressing the tension between providing fair protection to innovative ideas and ensuring legal certainty for third parties. However, like most patent laws, the...more
12/18/2024
/ Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Doctrine of Equivalents ,
EU ,
European Patent Convention ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventions ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
The Hague ,
Unified Patent Court ,
Unified Patent System
In a November 12, 2024, decision, the Court of Appeal ("CoA") of the Unified Patent Court ("UPC") has clarified under which circumstances a European patent that has been opted out and has been the subject of legal proceedings...more
The Unified Patent Court ("UPC") and the unitary patent—which came into force in June 2023—were created at the request of European industry in order to benefit from a single title (the unitary patent) covering the territory...more
The European Patent Office ("EPO") currently requires applicants to adapt descriptions to allowable claims. This practice is risky, expensive, and not clearly grounded in the law....more
On February 28, 2024, following the European Commission's four 2023 proposals, the European Parliament adopted a legislative resolution on the amended proposal to create a Unitary Supplementary Protection Certificate ("USPC")...more
The European Patent Office ("EPO") has committed to specific timelines for its new practice of accelerating opposition proceedings....more
The UPC, a single patent court for European Union Member States, has published the first statistics on its case load since its establishment in 2023. Between June 1, 2023, and January 31, 2024, a total of 196 cases were filed...more
In Short -
The Situation: With the introduction of the Unified Patent Court ("UPC") system in Europe, the co-ownership of patents will have material effect on patents with unitary effect ("Unitary Patent")....more
In Short -
The Situation: While the national case laws of most Unified Patent Court ("UPC") Member States generally accept infringement actions by licensees, the scope and requirements of such actions differ greatly. The...more
Judges were recruited from across Europe and appointed in accordance with the decisions of the UPC Administrative Committee. The UPC will be led by German Federal Court of Justice Judge Klaus Grabinski as president of the...more
Multiple reports reliably suggest that the European Patent Office ("EPO") will end the "10-day rule" for calculating deadlines on November 1, 2023. Thereafter, deadlines will be simply calculated on the basis of the date...more
The creation of a new European Unified Patent Court (“UPC”) and a new patent with unitary effect (“Unitary Patent”), in which almost all member states of the European Union participate, is the most important change in the...more
The previously contemplated fee for opting out of "classical" European patents from the Unified Patent Court ("UPC") system has been abolished by the UPC Preparatory Committee. The UPC Case Management System will also allow...more
The EPO confirmed that a European patent application can be refused on the basis of double patenting under Articles 97(2) and 125 EPC, if a patent with the same effective date has already been granted for the same subject...more
The Situation: A recent decision by the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office confirmed that a 2011 ruling dealing with disclosed disclaimers does not overrule its 2004 decision applying to undisclosed...more