As you may have heard, 2022 – 2023 will become a time for important changes for the European patent system. As these changes will also affect existing European Patents and European Patent Applications (European Patent Rights), we feel it is important we inform you on these changes.
Thanks to progress in its ratification, the UPCA is approaching its entry into force in the following 17 EU Contracting Member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden.
The Provisional Application Phase (PAP) of the UPCA has already started. Once the preparations are sufficiently completed, Germany will ratify the UPCA, which will trigger the start of the 3 to 4 month sunrise period, preceding actual entry into effect of the UPC, which will likely occur early 2023.
Unfortunately, during patent prosecution, it may occur that a deadline to perform an action required by the patent office is missed. However, do not despair! Legal remedies are sometimes available to address this. In fact, the European Patent Convention provides no fewer than three possible remedies in case a deadline is missed. Which remedy is available depends on the specific action that was missed.
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐏 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡: 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐆𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐬.
In general, the method of assessing inventive step applied by the European Patent Office is based on the “problem-solution” approach. Since the entry into force of the Pact Law in France, the French National Institute of Industrial Property also examines the criterion of inventive step based on the problem-solution approach.
If you are currently developing or planning to develop innovations based on blockchain technologies but still wonder whether you should file a patent application in Europe or more specific in France to protect and valorize your research efforts, here are some important facts and issues that our experts would like to share with you.
Finally, after many years of difficulties, the combined Unitary Patent (UP) and Unified Patent Court (UPC) project is about to become a reality.
The announcement by Germany of its ratification of the Protocol on Provisional Application (PPA) in August 2021, along with the subsequent deposit of the PPA ratification instrument in September 2021, has marked an important milestone towards entry into force. What stood in the way was the needed ratification of the PPA by one more Member State which is no longer the case and, ultimately, the final stages towards entry into force can be underway.
National Belgian patents and European patents in force in Belgium are exclusive intellectual property rights which allow you, the patentee, to forbid others from exploiting your invention in Belgium. Unfortunately, sometimes a competitor does violate your exclusive patent rights which can result in damages (e.g. financial loss). Luckily, under Belgian law there are various legal procedures at your disposal which enable you enforcing your exclusivity in court.
Since 10 January 2022, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has renewed and made more flexible the SME Fund scheme, which will allow your SME/ISE, under certain conditions, to benefit from aid of up to 2,250€ per year for its expenditure on patents, trademarks, designs and models.
Belgium has a complex institutional system in which the use of official languages is sometimes at the heart of public debate. The laws on the use of languages in administrative matters of July 18, 1966, still play an important role in our lives. But what are the legal consequences of these laws for your Belgian patent application?
Despite his many different faces, the “person skilled in the art” (PSITA), also called “the person having ordinary skill in the art” or PHOSITA, is a famous character in the field of patents.
PSITA is a legal concept found in many patent laws, which is used in various aspects of patent examinations worldwide. In most jurisdictions, it is a hypothetical person who is presumed to be a skilled practitioner in a technical field with average knowledge and ability and who is aware of what is common general knowledge in the art at a given relevant date.
YES – you can oppose a European patent while maintaining anonymity.
When a European patent is granted, there is a nine-month window during which it may be opposed to attempting to revoke the patent or to restrict its scope of protection. The patent can be opposed by any person (legal or natural), other than the original patent proprietor.
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