Luxembourg: Golden Disclaimers

The Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office has issued decision G 1/16 on the allowability of undisclosed disclaimers introduced into a patent claim. This decision confirms that “undisclosed disclaimers” in European patent applications are permissible under certain circumstances thus clarifying a decade-old saga on this matter.

The saga of disclaimers used in patent claims before the European Patent Office is ongoing for decades. A disclaimer in a patent claim serves to remove non-patentable subject matter from […]

By | April 29th, 2017 ||

Q&A: Japanese Patent Expiration Dates And Extensions

A patent’s duration is fairly standard in Japan: 20 years from the filing date. (For a PCT international application that enters the national phase in Japan, that is 20 years from the international filing date.) Sometimes, though, an applicant might not be able to work the invention right away and want to extend the expiration date of the patent. What then?
(When) can I extend my patent’s duration?
Unlike with the USPTO, the JPO does not automatically […]

By | April 11th, 2017 ||

USA: Indefiniteness Standard Less Strict Where Claim Term Does Not Concern Point Of Novelty

Addressing indefiniteness under Nautilus, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a district court’s finding that the claim term “effective for catalyzing” was indefinite even though the claim did not specify a way of measuring or a standard for determining “effectiveness.” BASF Corporation v. Johnson Matthey Inc., Case No. 16-1770 (Fed. Cir., Nov. 20, 2017) (Taranto, J).

BASF sued Johnson Matthey for infringement of a patent directed to systems for performing catalytic conversion of […]

By | April 1st, 2017 ||