HOFFMANN EITLE QUARTERLY
In our newsletter, we inform you about current developments in intellectual property law and any notices from the patent offices. Click the button below to subscribe to our newsletter.
June 2025
- Divisionals and Competition Law: Status Quo After the Teva Decision
- The Prior Use Right as a Defence in UPC Infringement Proceedings
- EU vs. Japan: What Truly Makes a Design?
- Use of AI-Generated Content as Evidence for Claim Interpretation at the EPO and in China
- T 1874/23 et al: The Right to Oral Proceedings at the EPO Under Attack
- Carry-Over Elements at the EPO: Admissibly Raised and Maintained?
March 2025
- Making the Fictional Skilled Person Real: The First Oral Examination of Expert Witnesses at the UPC
- Shall It Be Kept Secret? Strategic IP Considerations
- The New Face of EU Designs
- Hoffmann Eitle’s Significant Contributions to the Development of European Case Law in 2024
- On Thin Ice: Adding an Embodiment and Saving the Priority
- Intervention During EPO Appeal Proceedings: G 3/04 Called Into Question
- BSH v Electrolux – The Gateway to a New Age of Cross-Border Litigation?
- Euro Law Conference & Training Course – Munich, June 2025
December 2024
- Inventorship for AI-Assisted or AI-Generated Inventions in Europe and the U.S.
- Is Obtaining New Data From Measured Data Inventive? The Board in T 1741/22 Says Likely No
- J 1/24: Filing a Divisional After Grant at the EPO
- DOE at the UPC
- EU Competition Law: Teva Fined €462.6 Million for “Playing the Divisionals Game” and Disparagement Campaign
September 2024
- Subsequent Request For Patent Amendment as a Defence in UPC Revocation Actions
- At the Front-Line of Europe’s New Patent Court: the First Hearing of a Main Action at the UPC Paris LD
- The UPC Takes an EPO-Inspired but Independent Approach on Validity
- Hamburg LD on UPC PI Proceedings: The EPO’s View Matters
- Shall I Stay or Shall I Go – How to Interpret Claims Before the EPO
- Inconsistencies in the Application of the EPO Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal Concerning Case Amendments
- Emotional AI Is Nothing to Get Excited About, Rules UK Court of Appeal
June 2024
- UPC: One Year of the New European Patent Court System
- CRISPR-Cas Gene Scissors Are Set to Cut Their Way Through EU Regulation on Genetically Modified Plants
- AI Patents in Europe: Relevance of Training Data and Providing Plausible Evidence
- The UKIPO Clarifies the Requirements for Representing Animated Designs
- “Glück vs. LieBee”: Emotional Keywords Unenforceable in Germany Under Unfair Competition Law
- Device or Pharmaceutical Composition: T 1252/20 Proposes Broader Applicability of Medical Use Claims at the EPO
March 2024
- New EU Legislation Proposals (Part III): Centralised Examination Procedure for SPCs
- New EU Legislation Proposals (Part IV): Regulation for a Union Compulsory License
- The European General Court Keeps the Vespa Moving: Protection of a 3D Trademark
- The Skilled Person Uses “They/Them” Pronouns, and Why You Should Care
- Hoffmann Eitle’s Significant Contributions to the Development of European Case Law in 2023
- EPO Amends the Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal (RPBA)
- Electronic Signatures Accepted Again: The EPO Reacts Quickly After J 5/23
- UPC CoA Revokes Provisional Injunction Against NanoString
December 2023
- AI in the UK – Not Coded by a Human, No Problem
- G1/22 and G2/22: The EPO’s Enlarged Board of Appeal Decision on the Entitlement to Priority
- Double Trouble: Double Patenting at the EPO
- When Does an Application Fail the Controversial New EPO Plausibility Test
- Preservation of Evidence as a Provisional Measure Under the UPCA
September 2023
- New EU Legislation Proposals (Part I): A First Look at the Draft SEP Regulation
- New EU Legislation Proposals (Part II): Creation of a New SPC Landscape for Europe
- “Eieiei”: Stating the Obvious Is Not a Trademark Infringement
- Referral G 1/23: The Public Availability of Products in a New Light
- Amendment of the Description Before the EPO: Possible Referral to the Enlarged Board of Appeal
- T 695/18: To Err is Humane; to Forgive, Divine
- Proposed Amendments to the EPO Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal: A Critical Analysis
- In Provisional Injunction Proceedings, German Courts Can Disregard an EPO Board of Appeal’s Opinion
June 2023
- Patenting Computer-Implemented Inventions in the Mechanical Field is (Almost) Easy
- Patenting Quantum Computing Technologies in Europe and the U.S.
- Louboutin Shoes: Amazon’s Responsibility for Third-Party Offers
- G 2/21: The End of "Plausibility"?
- When Can a German Nullity Action Be Brought During Pending Opposition?
March 2023
- Driven by Technology: Patenting AI Before the European Patent Office (Part IV)
- Pre-published Clinical Trials: A Sudden Death for Second Medical Use Claims?
- The EU Clinical Trials Regulation: Implications of the New Transparency Rules on Patenting
- New Administrative Procedures for Invalidity and Revocation of Italian Trademark Registrations
- Opposition to French Patents - A First Assessment
- Late-Filed Inventive Step Submissions - Lessons from T 1042/18
- Abolition of the EPO's "Ten-Day Rule": Simplification and Closing of Gaps
December 2022
- Driven by Technology: Patenting AI Before the European Patent Office (Part III)
- Amendments After Grant and Indirect Infringement - "Broader Protection" Due To Narrower Scope?
- Genome Editing and Morality at the EPO
- "BLESSED": Owning a Trade Mark Is Not Always a Blessing
- History and Entanglement of "Spezi" Trademark; Paulaner's "Spezi" Will Remain on Market for Now
- Plausibility and G2/21
- Preliminary Injunction Proceedings in Germany - New Opportunities for Patentees in Munich?
- The UPC Might Not Be Quite Ready Yet, but You Can Be - the Practitioner's Handbook
September 2022
- Driven by Technology: Patenting AI Before the European Patent Office (Part II)
- Cross-Border Effects From Dutch Courts Without Local Patent Infringement
- The History and Entanglement of the “Spezi” Trademark; What did Riegele and Paulaner Agree Back Then?
- The German Patent Double Protection Prohibition and the UPCA: New Aspects to Consider
- When Are Products "Available to the Public" in the Sense of Art. 54(2) EPC?
- Amendment of the Description before the EPO: An Update
June 2022
- Driven by Technology: Patenting AI Before the European Patent Office (Part I)
- Marking Your IP Territory
- Will the EUIPO Lower Its Threshold for Assessing Word Marks on Absolute Grounds?
- Trademarks in the “Metaverse”
- Opting Out but Staying In – The Risk of Ineffective Opt-Outs From the UPC
- The ECJ Rules on Requirement of Validity of Asserted Patent in Provisional Injunction Proceedings
March 2022
- The EPO Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal (RPBA)
- Teva v Bayer - UK High Court Decides New Salt Form is Obvious
- LEGO: General Court, Judgment of 24 March 2021 - T 515/19
- Amendment of the Description at the EPO
- Update on Entitlement to Priority under the European Patent Convention
- Changes in Germany and Italy to the National Phase of PCT Applications
- Preparing for the UPC: What to do when
December 2021
- The EPO Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal (RPBA)
- Recent EPO Case Law on Sufficiency: How Much Disclosure is Enough?
- Speculative Examples at the EPO - a Road to Nowhere?
- Three-Dimensional Trademarks in the European Union
- Clarity of Claims at the EPO: Pursuing Broad Claims Without Being Vague
- UPC Update: Austria’s Federal Council Approved Ratification of the PPA
September 2021
- Time to Dust off Strategic Plans for the Unitary Patent?
- Establishing Inventive Step of Medical Use Claims at the EPO
- The European Court of Justice Expands the Registrability of Trademarks
- Additional Remuneration for Employees’ Inventions Made in France
- Biological Sequence Data: XML is the New TXT
- G 1/21 – Oral Proceedings by Videoconference at the EPO
June 2021
- Formal Right to Priority under the EPC
- Changes to German Patent Act
- Protectability of a Product both as a Design and as a Patent
- G 1/19 – Computer-Implemented Simulations at the EPO
- Oral Proceedings in Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic – An Update
- Licensing or Selling German IPR can Cause Tax Liability in Germany
