Gewerblicher Rechtsschutz

Aktuelle eAlerts

•  

  31.03.2023

  Europe

  Arm­chair in­ven­ti­ons part 3: De­ci­si­on on plau­si­bi­li­ty at the EPO (G2/21)

  The issue of plausibility was previously referred to the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA), the highest judicial authority at the European Patent Office (EPO). Our article on the referral can be found here. The oral proceedings for G2/21 took place in Munich on 24 November 2022 and our article summarising the preliminary opinion can be found here.  The final decision has now issued – and leaves plenty of room for interpretation.Question 1: Principle of free evaluation of evidenceThe first question considered by the EBA was whether, in a case where post-published evidence is the exclusive...

  Mehr
•  

  30.03.2023

  Luxembourg

  What is the sta­tus of the draft law trans­po­sing Di­rec­tive (EU) 2019/1937 of the Eu­ro­pean Par­lia­ment and of the Coun­cil of 23 Oc­to­ber 2019 on the pro­tec­tion of per­sons who re­port bre­aches of Uni­on law?

  Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law, better known as the Whistleblowing Directive (hereinafter the "Directive"), should have been transposed into national law by 17 December 2021. Since the draft law transposing the Directive into national law was submitted to the Chamber of Deputies on 10 January 2022 (hereinafter referred to as the "Draft Law"), numerous opinions have been issued.To date, there is no exact picture of when the Draft Law will be voted on but given the delay in the...

  Mehr
•  

  30.03.2023

  Großbritannien

  FCA laun­ches con­sul­ta­ti­on: wi­de­ning the door for SMEs’ ac­cess to the Fi­nan­ci­al Om­buds­man Ser­vice

  The FCA has launched a call for input from individuals and businesses as to whether the threshold for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to refer complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Services (FOS) should be increased. The deadline for undertaking the survey is 28 April 2023.BackgroundThe FOS is an independent tribunal for complaints against financial businesses regulated by the FCA. It an attractive option for complainants as it is a free and informal process which can be initiated online. As an alternative to pursuing a claim in the civil court, the FOS determines cases on what is “fair...

  Mehr
•  

  28.03.2023

  Europe

  Eu­ro­pean Par­lia­ment and Coun­cil re­a­dy to start ne­go­tia­ti­ons on EU Da­ta Act – Eu­ro­pe gets clo­ser to ad­op­ting a da­ta law

  In February 2022 the European Commission presented its proposal for the EU Data Act, which – if adopted - will introduce a far-reaching legal regime on access to and use of non-personal data in the EU and will, similar to the GDPR, be applicable to businesses established outside the EU. The proposed regulation contains a set of rules defining how various forms of data can be used and by whom for purposes across all economic sectors with the aim of creating a new data-agile ecosystem. While the new law will bring new opportunities, it will also create legal challenges for all actors in the...

  Mehr
•  

  23.03.2023

  Europe

  Eu­ro­pean Pa­tent Of­fice (EPO) dig­ging its heals in over the need for de­scrip­ti­on amend­ments, but how to do this re­mains a chal­len­ge

  As a complement to the 10th edition of the EPO "Case Law of the Boards of Appeal" (CLB), the EPO has published an Annual Review containing summaries of decisions from 2022. The review provides a thematic overview of selected decisions of the boards of appeal published in 2022. There are a number of notable decisions in the summary including those concerning the controversial topic of bringing the description into line with amended claims.BackgroundIn October 2020, CMS published an article ‘New EPO Guidelines expected regarding amending a description: what’s all the fuss about?’,...

  Mehr
•  

  22.03.2023

  Europe

  Eu­ro­pean Pa­tent Of­fice (EPO) le­vel of dis­clo­sure re­qui­red for an­ti­bo­dies - first me­di­cal use

  As a complement to the 10th edition of the EPO "Case Law of the Boards of Appeal" (CLB), the EPO has published an Annual Review containing summaries of decisions from 2022. The review provides a thematic overview of selected decisions of the Boards of Appeal published in 2022. There are a number of notable decisions in the summary, although it has been a somewhat quiet year for significant decisions in the antibody area.  Most decisions in this technical area consolidate what is now fairly settled practice at the EPO for antibody cases, where inventive step continues to be a major challenge....

  Mehr