56 EPC. Consolidated experience and in-depth knowledge of case law provide guidance in overcoming uncertainties and difficulties on a case- by-case basis. whether the refusal of a stay will irrevocably deprive a party of a benefit which would be available if the proceedings were stayed. both during prosecution and in post-grant proceedings such as opposition cases. This seems to be more lenient than the approach of the Boards of Appeal of the EPO. For instance, following G 1/07, the Board of Appeal ruled in T 663/02 that an intravenous injection of a magnetic resonance contrast agent, which can be delegated by a physician to a qualified paramedical professional, may be considered as representing a minor routine intervention which does not imply a substantial health risk when carried out with the required care and skill. The discussion of the inventive step should be based on the problem-solution- approach as adopted by the EPO. According to the MPEP section cited … all of the features which are necessary for achieving the technical effect of the invention. In this case the applicant should indicate what has been changed and indicate the basis for the changes in the original application documents. Similarly, certain devices may have (potentially) immoral applications, as well as morally acceptable ones. According to Rule 52 EPC, the declaration of priority may in principle still be made within and corrected 16 months from the earliest priority date claimed. methods for treatment of the human or animal body by surgery, methods for treatment of the human or animal body by therapy, and. In practice, the option of further processing may not only be used as a remedy for accidentally missed time limits in examination proceedings, but also as a two- month term extension with costs. At the end of the examination procedure the Examining Division will either issue a decision to grant a patent or will refuse the application. These procedures respectively enable the proprietor of a European patent to request limitation of the patent claims or complete revocation of the patent. There will be simultaneous translation of what is said in the proceedings. A third member will usually be the minute’s writer in the event of Oral Proceedings. If the examination fee is not paid in due time, the application is deemed withdrawn, further processing is available and the further processing fee is 50% of the examination fee. If a serious attempt has been made to overcome the objections raised in the first examination report but a summons has been issued nonetheless, it may be difficult to succeed at oral proceedings without amending the claims or submitting new arguments or evidence. For example, it is probably not self-evident that it is easier for the human eye to track a blue squash ball in flight than a black or green squash ball. Important requirements include the technical character of the claimed subject-matter (Art. after the UPCA has entered into force in the further states, will enjoy the enlarged territory. However, since the EP-UE is a unitary right, this solution of applying a different property law to each of its national parts could not be maintained for the EP-UE. In response to this communication the applicant may react in four different ways: The final responsibility whether the communication under Rule 62a(1) was justified lies with the Examining Division. Additionally, decision G 2/08 holds that the so-called “Swiss-type claim” (“Use of compound X for the manufacture of a medicament for treating disease Y”) is no longer allowed for applications having an effective date after January 28, 2011. The reply of the applicant should also contain a request to the Examiner to submit a further official action or to have a telephone discussion with the applicant’s representative or even to summon for oral proceedings before the members of the Examining Division. A consideration of the extent to which the effect of an invention is achieved across the scope of the claims is also relevant to the assessment of inventive step, as discussed in the chapter on Inventive Step. This means that the EPO has to be convinced that (i) the skilled person would immediately see that there is a mistake; and (ii) the skilled person would immediately understand that nothing other than the offered correction is what was intended. The legislator’s motivation to exclude certain types of inventions from patent protection is as diverse as is the nature of the exclusions. (e) the proprietor of the European patent is not entitled under Article 60, paragraph 1. If the applicant has requested oral proceedings as an auxiliary measure, the application cannot be refused until oral proceedings have been held. This means, in particular, that it has to be substantiated that the failure to observe the time limit occurred in spite of all due care. Also, it is not infrequent that Examiners cite new documents also in late stages of the procedure. Article 84 EPC is neither a ground of opposition, nor a ground for revocation in national courts. It is a rather common practice for both the opponent and the patentee to routinely request Oral Proceedings under Article 116 (1) EPC. However, “a method of digitally filtering images in the form of a two dimensional data array” may be regarded as technical, since it is an industrial application and as such belonging to the technical world. The pros and cons of a request for PPH should therefore be considered on a case- by-case basis. Art. To register an EP-UE, a translation of the entire patent will be required during a transitional period of at least six, and at most 12 years. The Enlarged Board reasoned that a “specific” use in a method of therapy is not restricted to treating a novel disease, but extends to any “specific” aspect of treatment. In a hearing before the Commons Select Committee, the new UK Minister for Intellectual Property literally [18]testified: “We have taken a decision to ratify, ehm to proceed with preparations to ratify the Patent Court Agreement…”. A surprising technical effect is generally indicative that an invention is not obvious and therefore can be considered as involving an inventive step. This issue is important since in appeal stage fresh grounds of oppositions may in principle not be introduced, unless the patent proprietor agrees. Subsections 4 and 5 expressly refer to the patentability of any “substance or composition”. 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