It is well known, and often lamented, that it takes a long time for a patent to be granted. Occasionally, a delay in getting a patent granted is useful as it gains time for a business to become established. Often, however, the wait is a source of frustration. This can...
Under Article 112a EPC a party to appeal proceedings may file a petition for review of the decision by the Enlarged Board of Appeal. One instance is where a fundamental procedural defect occurred during the appeal proceedings and the petitioning party was adversely...
Undisclosed disclaimer – disclaimed features are not disclosed in original application. Disclosed disclaimer – disclaimed features are disclosed as an embodiment of the invention. EPO decision G1/03 sets out a limited number of circumstances in which undisclosed...
The case concerns questions referred to the EBA following refusal of European patent application No. 96903521.1 (Publication No. EP0770125, the “WARF application”) in the name of Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, relating to “Primate ES cells”. Oral Proceedings...
The WARF decision is out: the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) has held that the WARF invention required, at the time of filing, destruction of an embryo. Whatever the claims covered, this inevitable embryo destruction meant the application had to be refused. The...
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