New fee reductions at the EPO for microenterprises and other organisations

A new support scheme allowing for 30% reduction on most of the EPO official fees is available under new Rule 7a(3) EPC (in force from April 1, 2024).[1] The new fee reductions apply to cases where...

HOFFMANN EITLE is attending the INTA Annual Meeting 2024

We are pleased to announce that HOFFMANN EITLE is attending this year's International Trademark Association (INTA) Annual Meeting on May 18-22, 2024, in Atlanta, Georgia. HOFFMANN EITLE will be rep...

EPO amends the Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal (RPBA)

Last year, HOFFMANN EITLE reported on our response to planned changes to the RPBA, which govern appeal proceedings before the Boards of Appeal. The EPO has now amended the RPBA, taking some of our...

HOFFMANN EITLE congratulates newly qualified German Patent Attorneys in 2023

We are happy to welcome four new German Patent Attorneys to our team, and therefore, congratulate Andreas Beer (Mechanical Engineering, Munich) Saskia-Berenice Gressel (Biotechnology, Munich)...

Analysis of G 1/22 and G 2/22

G1/22 and G2/22: The EPO's Enlarged Board of Appeal decision on the entitlement to priority The decision of the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) in the cases G1/22 and G2/22 concerns the right to cl...

Abolition of the EPO's "10-Day Notification Rule"

The EPO's "10-day notification rule" will no longer apply to communications issued by the EPO on or after November 1, 2023. For example, if the EPO issues a communication of intension to grant (Ru...

HOFFMANN EITLE wins EPO oppositions against DNA sequencing patents

Patents relating to DNA sequencing technology have been subject to several patent disputes in recent years. This includes a series of EPO oppositions against patents owned by Illumina Cambridge Lim...

When does an application fail the controversial new EPO plausibility test?

When does an application fail the controversial new EPO plausibility test European patent attorneys are still grappling with the meaning of the new standard for relying on post-published data for...

Our response to the proposed new amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal (RPBA)

The EPO has opened a User Consultation on the proposed new amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal (RPBA). The amendments seek to support more ambitious timeliness objectives,...

How will the Boards interpret the plausibility test in G 2/21?

The million euro question in European patent law these days is: how will the Boards interpret the plausibility test in G 2/21? HOFFMANN EITLE's Munich partner Jan Zillies took part in one of the ve...