Hoffmann Eitle - München, London

Hoffmann · Eitle Newsletter 4/2009 - The End of Unrestricted Filing of Divisional Applications - The Decision CA/D 2/09 of the Administrative Council

Author(s): Dr. Matthias Wolf, Dr. Declan Mulhern

On March 25, 2009 the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation announced the decision CA/D 2/09 outlining new amendments to the Implementing Regulations to the European Patent Convention (EPC). This decision concerns divisional applications and will introduce a time limit by which they must be filed. The decision will come into force on April 1, 2010 and will significantly reduce the amount of time available for filing divisional applications once prosecution of the initial application has reached a certain stage.

The Hoffmann · Eitle Newsletter 4/2009 intends to provide a summary of the amendments as well as guidance regarding the filing of European divisional applications in the future - and the pitfalls involved.