IT & Communications

EPO President António Campinos has announced that from 1 January 2023 video conference (VICO) will be the default format of Oral Proceedings before the examining and opposition divisions, the Legal Division and the Receiving Section.   Oral Proceedings “…may be held on the premises of the European Patent Office, either at the request of a… Read more »

In September 2022, the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) published guidelines setting out the practice within the IPO for the examination of patent applications for inventions relating to Artificial Intelligence (AI). This guidance follows the government’s response to a call for views on AI and intellectual property, which committed the IPO to publish these enhanced… Read more »

“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.” The words of Aldous Huxley depict the unique ability of music to convey emotion and summon an instinctual sentimental response within us all. Although many believe this to be an ineffable reaction which defies scientific explanation, a growing body of research appears to… Read more »

Prosecuting green patents around the world The UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) launched the Green Channel in 2009. The Green Channel is a scheme which allows applicants to request accelerated prosecution of patent applications directed to an invention which has an environmental benefit. Since the launch of the green channel in the UK, a… Read more »

EPO 2022 fee increases The European Patent Office (EPO) has announced a rise in many of its official fees to take effect from 1st April 2022. The announcement, published with full details of the new fees in the EPO Official Journal in January 2022, follows the Decision of the Administrative Council of 15th December 2021… Read more »

European Commission launches feedback period on SEPs As part of the European Commission’s (EC) initiative titled ‘Intellectual property – new framework for standard essential patents’, the EC has now published a call for evidence and a public consultation on standard essential patents (SEPs).  This planned consultation was mentioned in our earlier article reporting the UK… Read more »

AA Thornton reports on 2022 updates to EPO Guidelines for Examination On 3 February 2022, the European Patent Office provided a preview of updates to its Guidelines for Examination, which will come into effect on 1 March 2022. There are various improvements that we really welcome, including some that we recommended, but we also have… Read more »

Red letter day for Wordle – what next following its sale to The New York Times? News broke this week that viral online word game Wordle has been sold to The New York Times (NYT) for an undisclosed seven figure sum. The popularity of the free daily word puzzle has exploded in just a few… Read more »

9. Clarification of section on patentability of antibodies This forms part of a wider report on the 2022 updates to EPO Guidelines for Examination.   We are pleased that the comments on patentability of antibodies in Guidelines Part G, Chapter II, section 5.6 has been clarified and updated. AA Thornton’s Craig Turner discussed this with… Read more »

8. Data retrieval, formats and structures This forms part of a wider report on the 2022 updates to EPO Guidelines for Examination.   This section G-II, section 3.6.3 includes a minor clarification (underlined below): “A data structure or format contributes to the technical character of the invention if it produces has an intended technical use… Read more »