Reference: Document dump
THE PREVIOUS POST ended with a mention of the "Guidelines for Search and Examination at the EPO," by which the EPO hopes to grant software patents through buzzwords. But there's an even worse aspect; the judges of the EPO lack independence and the EPO isn't doing anything to correct this.
"...the judges of the EPO lack independence and the EPO isn't doing anything to correct this."Promoted via Lexology was this new article by Potter Clarkson LLP's Tony Proctor. He wrote about the EPO's Boards of Appeal, which have no independence whatsoever (this whole system is rogue now), and this is what he had to say about "Changes to the Rules of Procedure of the EPO Boards of Appeal": (notice nothing at all is being done regarding much-needed autonomy)
The rules governing the appeals process at the European Patent Office are being changed, with the aim being to speed up the appeals process and the expected effect being to reduce flexibility for appellants. Here we discuss the expected knock-on effects on first instance proceedings, particularly oppositions, as well as on existing and new appeals.
The EPO has announced the issue of the Enlarged Board of Appeal's full reasoning in referral G 2/19. As previously noted on IPKat, the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) had previously released their decision in G 2/19 but had not published the decision (EPO press release).
The referral originated from the Board of Appeal decision T 831/17. The appeal related to a case in which a third party had submitted observations pursuant to Article 115 EPC that a patent application (EP2378735) lacked clarity. Clarity is not a ground for opposition. The third party was therefore not able to oppose the subsequently granted patent on the same ground.
In order to pursue their clarity objection to the now granted patent, the third party filed an appeal against the decision to grant. The appeal was considered inadmissible. The Board of Appeal also referred the question to the EBA of whether the right to oral proceedings in appeal proceedings is limited if the appeal is evidently inadmissible. The referral also asked the question of whether the relocation of the Boards of Appeal to outside Munich contravened a party's right to be heard.
Prior to the decision, the Haar/Munich aspect of the referral was covered by IPKat here, and the oral proceedings issue was covered in more detail here. The referral attracted a number of amicus curiae, including submissions from EPI and CIPA.
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The G 2/19 decision is currently only available in German. This Kat is therefore currently forced to rely on the EPO summary. Stay tuned to IPKat for further commentary once an English translation becomes available.
"The EPO bullies its staff. The majority of them have rather severe stress, many need to seek professional help and a large proportion develop physical problems that are chronic."This is typical EPO. It's a bully, a thug, and a foe of justice. Just ask its own staff; no, not the mythical staff the EPO has just promoted ("How do our #patent examiners work?").
The EPO bullies its staff. The majority of them have rather severe stress, many need to seek professional help and a large proportion develop physical problems that are chronic. The EPO is no place to work and it's not hiring. It's also outsourcing the jobs.
Incidentally, retweeted by EPO a short while ago was this tweet from Saudi Arabia: "The bilateral meeting between @SAIPKSA and the European Patent Office(EPO)was held today in Geneva.The two sides reviewed aspects of cooperation in the field of patents and the opportunities of enhancing the strategic partnership between the sides."
"Even EPO staff that complains isn't being listened to. It's like these people don't matter because they interfere with 'Big Litigation' agenda."I responded by saying that it makes perfect sense for EPO to have alliances with countries that chop people like me to pieces and put them in tandoori ovens (for speaking about injustices like those in EPO).
Sadly, most if not all of the above issues are no longer discussed by the media. The EPC being violated should be front page news, but somehow that's being ignored. What do so-called 'law' firms speak about? Nothing but marketing or shameless self-promotion; in this particular case we have Paul Calvo and Fei Sha (Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.) citing the EPC as if it still matters at the EPO. But it doesn't. They would be wiser to point out EPO violates the European Patent Convention ("EPC") every day. From their new article:
The Guidelines for Examination in the European Patent Office (EPO) permit the use of post-filing experimental data in a limited manner to support the scope of objected claims. However, reliance on post-filing data differs when claims are objected to for insufficiency of disclosure or lack of inventive step.
Sufficiency of Disclosure
Article 83 of the European Patent Convention ("EPC") requires European patent applications to "disclose the invention in a manner sufficiently clear and complete for it to be carried out by a person skilled in the art." A single example may suffice, but for claims that cover a broad field, a patent application must disclose multiple examples or describe alternative embodiments or variations extending over the technical area encompassed by the claims. If a patent specification lacks disclosure of tangible proof that the claimed concept can be put into practice, post-published documents can confirm the teachings of a patent application, but cannot be used to "cure" an insufficiency in disclosure.[1]
For example, if a patent disclosure provides no guidance as to how to perform a particular aspect of a claimed invention, post-published documents that later show how such performance is accomplished cannot "cure" the insufficiency.[2] In addition, if a patent specification provides only a vague indication of possible medical use for a yet-to-be-identified chemical compound, post-published documents containing details as to the identity and medical use of the compound cannot remedy the insufficiency of disclosure.[3] However, where an application lacks such explicit data, but discloses a technical concept that is plausible in view of common general knowledge at the relevant filing date, post-published documents may be used to support sufficiency of disclosure.[4]