Hands-on commentary on UPC decisions, key developments in IP law, and news from SONN.
Aug 1, 2026
The Local Chamber Vienna clarifies the rules for interpreting printed state of the art in comparison with the advertised physical product. An advertising brochure is to be evaluated as an independent prior art document…
Read more →Jun 1, 2026
A single technical feature not disclosed in the state of the art is sufficient to confer novelty on a claim, regardless of its technical effect. In this assessment, the concept of 'photographic' novelty applies, so to…
Read more →To benefit from the deemed novelty under Article 54(5) EPC, claims for a second medical use must relate to a specific use in a method under Article 53(c) EPC. The only reason why such claims can be patentable lies in…
Read more →Aug 11, 2025
The principle that a claimed sub-range must be “narrow” relative to a known range and “sufficiently far removed” from any specific examples in order to confer novelty is, following T 1688/20 (which held that the concept…
Read more →Aug 6, 2025
When assessing whether a combination of features is disclosed in the application as filed, the so-called “gold standard” requires that the combination be directly and unambiguously derivable from the original documents.…
Read more →Jul 21, 2025
The requirement underlying the “specific use” within the meaning of Article 54(5) EPC, as expressly concluded by the Enlarged Board in decision G 2/08, is to be interpreted only in contrast to the broad, general…
Read more →Enlarged Board of Appeal decisions G 2/88 and G 6/88 are limited to patent claims directed to (new) non-medical uses of a known substance for a specific purpose, and not to manufacturing processes within the meaning of…
Read more →May 12, 2023
The practice so far according to which a sub-range selected from a larger numerical range of the prior art is considered to be novel if (a) the selected sub-range is narrow compared to the known range and (b) the…
Read more →May 2, 2023
The clinical trials were carried out in accordance with the EMEA Guidelines for Good Clinical Practice. These guidelines explicitly require adherence to the prescribed protocol and assurance of drug accountability. This…
Read more →Apr 22, 2022
The mere discovery of a new property or capability of a particular ingredient of a known composition used for a known purpose cannot establish the novelty of a use claim (as distinguished from the facts underlying the…
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