Admissibility of amendments to the submissions in the appeal proceedings
If amendments to the application documents which aim to overcome objections of lack of support by the description or lack of clarity which were raised in the summons to the proceedings before the appeal proceedings lead to further objections regarding clarity or extension beyond the content of the application as originally filed, the reference to … >> read more
Verifiability of the free evaluation of evidence
With regard to the evaluation of the relevant facts by the Opposition Division, it must be considered that the principle of free evaluation of evidence is recognized to apply before the EPO, which must also impact the review in appeal proceedings. To the extent that there is no error in the application of law (e.g., … >> read more
Christams donation 2020
Our Christmas donation 2020 was given to “Vinzenzgemeinschaft” and “die möwe”. The Vinzenzgemeinschaft St. Stephan association operates an emergency shelter and residential buildings for homeless people, financed exclusively from donations and operated by volunteers (VinziRast-CortiHaus, VinziRast-mittendrin – in community with students – and VinziRast-WG for alcoholics), a facility for refugees (VinziRast-Home) and a learning and … >> read more
Infringement of the right to be heard by the threat of refusal
A statement such as “the next procedural step will be the summons to oral proceedings during which the application will be refused” made before a final decision to refuse a patent application may infringe a party’s right to be heard and thus may lead to a substantial procedural violation (EPO Board of Appeal, 15 July … >> read more
Change of scenery
With the decision 133 R 99/19k of the Higher Regional Court of Vienna dated January 21, 2020, the first instance revocation of the patent E 303 802 (Austrian part of EP 1 439 829 B1) was confirmed. In short, the proceedings concerned inventive step and the question of whether the use of a galenic formulation … >> read more