SONN Patentanwälte – IP Attorneys

  1. UPC: Prohibition of Hindsight in Selecting the Starting Point

    The Central Division Munich addresses the objective determination of inventive step and warns against impermissible hindsight. A realistic starting point is generally a prior art disclosure in its entirety. In the absence of a specific reason or hint in the disclosure itself (or in the common general...

  2. EPO: Inadmissible Extension of Scope of Protection by Adding a Manufacturing Step

    This decision addresses the admissibility of post-grant claim amendments for computer-implemented methods with regard to the scope of protection of the patent. If a granted patent claim defines a computer-implemented method for configuring a physical object, the execution of which results only in...

  3. UPC: Inadmissible Extension due to Imprecise Calculation Base of Substance Proportions

    In these revocation proceedings, the Central Division Munich addresses the precise requirements for the original disclosure of numerical ranges in composition claims. The patent in suit protects a method for processing sugar mixtures as well as sugar compositions. It is challenged on the grounds...

  4. UPC: Indicative Value of Statements by the Applicant during Prosecution

    In this decision, the Local Chamber Munich addresses the legal significance of the prosecution file for subsequent claim construction. Statements made by the patent applicant during examination proceedings do not constitute prosecution history for the interpretation of the granted patent within the...

  5. UPC: Functional Claim Construction of Fiber Components in Laser Applications

    In this detailed decision, the Local Chamber Mannheim deals with the functional interpretation of apparatus features and their relevance to patent infringement. The interpretation of patent claims is carried out functionally and from the perspective of the person skilled in the art, taking into account...

  6. UPC: Determining the Disclosure Content of an Advertising Brochure as State of the Art

    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 as such from the perspective of the person skilled in the art. At the very outset,...

  7. UPC: Applicable Law and Requirements for Damages for Lost Profits

    In this first-instance judgment, the Local Chamber Hamburg deals in detail with the claim for lost profits and the temporal scope of application of the Unified Patent Court Agreement. National law applies to a claim for damages for lost profits if the facts of the case were concluded before the entry...

  8. EPO: Arbitrary Modification of Prior Art Cannot Support Inventive Step

    In this decision, the Board of Appeal clarifies the requirements for inventive step when introducing variations from the prior art. If a distinguishing feature does not credibly contribute to solving a technical problem, it generally represents a mere arbitrary modification of the prior art which...

  9. UPC: Access to Files Does Not Constitute Acceptance of Jurisdiction

    In this order, the Court of Appeal addresses the question of when a defendant implicitly accepts the international jurisdiction of the Unified Patent Court. Merely accessing the case file before taking an active procedural step or a defense action does not constitute a conscious decision regarding...

  10. UPC: Obligation for Earliest and Complete Submissions Also in Suspensive Effect Requests

    In this decision, the Court of Appeal emphasizes that the principle of acceleration in the Rules of Procedure also applies to requests for suspensive effect. The principle that parties must present their complete pleadings as early as possible in the proceedings also applies to requests for suspensive...

Previous page Next page
Top