News and Publications

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...

HOFFMANN EITLE wins at the Global IP Awards 2023

HOFFMANN EITLE wins "Patent Prosecution Firm of the Year" for Germany at the Global IP Awards 2023 presented by IAM and WTR. This awards show recognised the outstanding achievements of law and att...

HOFFMANN EITLE Quarterly Newsletter 9/23

Dear Colleagues and Friends, In this issue of the Hoffmann Eitle Quarterly, we begin a series of articles on a new package of draft EU regulations, with a first article on a draft regulation on st...

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,...

UPC appoints 21 new Technically Qualified Judges

After its recent declaration regarding the appointment of 21 new technically qualified judges (TQJs), the Unified Patent Court (UPC) has yesterday released a comprehensive roster of these TQJs a...

Austria ratifies the Protocol on Privileges and Immunities of the UPC

As reported by the Council of the EU, Austria has deposited its instrument of ratification of the Protocol on Privileges and Immunities (PPI) of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) on July 28. Austria h...

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...

HOFFMANN EITLE congratulates newly qualified European Patent Attorneys

We are very proud to announce the HOFFMANN EITLE colleagues who have passed the European Qualifying Examination (EQE) this year. Congratulations go to: Saskia Gressel (Biotechnology, Munich) T...

When Are Products “Available to the Public” in the Sense of Art. 54(2) EPC?

There is a new and very interesting referral to the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) of the EPO (T438/19). The referral questions relate to the scenario that the prior art of interest is a product on...