Understanding how patent claims are interpreted is crucial, and a recent EPO decision, G 1/24, provides new guidance: always consult the patent’s full description and drawings, not just the claims themselves.
Following the high profile hearing last month, we are now waiting for the written decision of the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) in G 1/24. Readers can catch-up on the full background to the case here. There is also still plenty to discuss while we wait.
G 1/24 relates to the question of how to interpret the…
Earlier this week the CJEU provided its ruling in the highly anticipated case of BSH Hausgeräte v. Electrolux (Case C-339/22, February 2025). The case addressed longstanding questions about the jurisdiction of European courts when patent invalidity is raised as a defence in an infringement case. The CJEU found that national courts maintain jurisdiction over infringement claims against defendants domiciled…
We are delighted to announce that Evolve has joined the ranks of the Legal 500 Intellectual Property firms. The Legal 500 is one of the UK’s leading legal directories, known for its rigorous research methodology and independent analysis of the legal market. As a small boutique IP firm, we are particularly proud of this achievement. …
The cover article of the May 2024 edition of the CIPA Journal proposed a new test for inventive step using AI. The article was inspired by the EPO’s AI assisted search tool, AI-PreSearch. The CIPA journal article proposes to use an AI derived measurement of semantic similarity between the claims and the prior art as a new test for…
According to the USPTO guidance for AI-assisted inventions, AI has the potential to solve some of society’s most difficult challenges. However, in the patent realm, the USPTO also believes that “inventorship analysis should focus on human contributions, as patents function to incentivize and reward human ingenuity”. How then are AI-generated inventions to be protected? As previously reported,…
In the US, the principle of file wrapper estoppel is well established. Submissions made in US patent prosecution may be highly influential for claim interpretation post-grant. Additionally, as recently highlighted in K-fee v Nespresso (Case No. 22-2042, Fed. Cir. Dec. 26, 2023), file wrapper estoppel in the US does not stop at the US file wrapper. Submission made in other…
Large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT have been hailed as potentially revolutionary for the legal industry. Lord Justice Birss himself recently made headlines for praising the usefulness of ChatGPT for writing court judgments. LLMs are undeniably a major technological advance with the potential to make a significant impact on the legal industry. We are now awash with…
