European Union: Patent

The European Patent Office's Enlarged Board of Appeal has issued a landmark decision in G 1/25 "Hydroponics," addressing a fundamental question that has divided practitioners for years: when patent claims are amended during examination, must the description be adapted to match? The ruling establishes that inconsistencies between claims and descriptions only require correction when they result in non-compliance with the European Patent Convention, not merely for achieving formal consistency.

À l'occasion de sa campagne estivale 2026, l'Union des fabricants (Unifab) a multiplié les actions de prévention auprès du grand public afin de mieux faire connaître les risques associés à l'achat de produits contrefaisants. Déployée dans plusieurs stations touristiques françaises, cette opération avait pour objectif d'aider les consommateurs à identifier les indices permettant de distinguer un produit authentique d'une copie illicite

Most companies lack a deliberate strategy for their external patent firm network, treating foundational inventions the same as routine cases. Leading IP functions segment firms into strategic tiers, manage relationships as partnerships across full lifecycles, and leverage joint planning and AI to transform how external counsel delivers value.

Even if the defendant has filed the counterclaim for revocation only conditionally, the defendant may still file an appeal

We regularly receive reports from customers that they are being approached by companies pretending to be official IP agencies. If you receive any letters, emails, invoices or other notifications from third parties, do not make any payments until you confirm their legitimacy.

Wij ontvangen regelmatig meldingen van onze klanten die worden benaderd door bedrijven die zich voordoen als officiële instanties op het gebied van intellectuele eigendom (IE). Daarbij gaat het onder meer om spookfacturen en andere misleidende betalingsverzoeken.

In decision T 1186/24, the EPO Board of Appeal reiterated that a European patent claim covering multiple alternatives must enable each of them to be carried out across the entire claimed scope. A single alternative introduced by "or" can thus undermine a patent's validity if it is not sufficiently disclosed, as Charles-Henri Bertaux explains.

AI biedt nieuwe mogelijkheden voor onderzoek, analyse en conceptteksten in de octrooipraktijk. Maar hoeveel kunt u aan deze technologie overlaten? Ontdek waarom menselijke expertise essentieel blijft voor een sterke octrooiaanvraag en een doordachte IE-strategie.

For leading intellectual property law firms, managing global patent portfolios requires far more than accurate translation. Every filing must align with jurisdiction-specific requirements, strict deadlines, client budgets...