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Guidelines for Examination

 
 
Table of Contents - Guidelines for Examination
Part G Patentability

Part G

Patentability

 

Contents
Chapter I – Patentability
1.
Basic requirements
2.
Further requirements
3.
Technical progress, advantageous effects
Chapter II – Inventions
1.
General remarks
2.
Examination practice
3.
List of exclusions
3.1
Discoveries
3.2
Scientific theories
3.3
Mathematical methods
3.4
Aesthetic creations
3.5
Schemes, rules and methods for performing mental acts, playing games or doing business
3.6
Programs for computers
3.7
Presentations of information
3.7.1
User interfaces
3.7.2
Data retrieval, formats and structures
4.
Exceptions to patentability
4.1
Matter contrary to "ordre public" or morality
4.1.1
Prohibited matter
4.1.2
Offensive and non-offensive use
4.1.3
Economic effects
4.2
Surgery, therapy and diagnostic methods
4.2.1
Limitations of exception under Art. 53(c)
4.2.1.1
Surgery
4.2.1.2
Therapy
4.2.1.3
Diagnostic methods
4.2.2
Methods for screening potential medicaments and clinical trials
5.
Exclusions and exceptions for biotechnological inventions
5.1
General remarks and definitions
5.2
Patentable biotechnological inventions
5.3
List of exceptions (Rule 28)
5.4
Plant and animal varieties, essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals
5.4.1
Plant varieties
5.4.2
Essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals
5.5
Microbiological processes
5.5.1
General remarks
5.5.2
Repeatability of results of microbiological processes
Chapter III – Industrial application
1.
General remarks
2.
Method of testing
3.
Industrial application vs. exclusion under Art. 52(2)
4.
Sequences and partial sequences of genes
Chapter IV – State of the art
1.
General remarks and definition
2.
Enabling disclosures
3.
Date of filing or priority date as effective date
4.
Documents in a non-official language
4.1
Machine translations
5.
Conflict with other European applications
5.1
State of the art pursuant to Art. 54(3)
5.1.1
Requirements
5.1.2
Accorded date of filing still subject to review
5.2
Euro-PCT applications
5.3
Commonly designated States
5.4
Double patenting
6.
Conflict with national rights of earlier date
7.
State of the art made available to the public "by use or in any other way"
7.1
Types of use and instances of state of the art made available in any other way
7.2
Matters to be determined by the Opposition Division as regards use
7.2.1
General principles
7.2.2
Agreement on secrecy
7.2.3
Use on non-public property
7.2.4
Example of the accessibility of objects used
7.2.5
Example of the inaccessibility of a process
7.3
State of the art made available by means of oral description
7.3.1
Cases of oral description
7.3.2
Non-prejudicial oral description
7.3.3
Matters to be determined by the Opposition Division in cases of oral description
7.4
State of the art made available to the public in writing or by any other means
7.5
Internet disclosures
7.5.1
Establishing the publication date
7.5.2
Standard of proof
7.5.3
Burden of proof
7.5.3.1
Technical journals
7.5.3.2
Other "print equivalent" publications
7.5.3.3
Non-traditional publications
7.5.4
Disclosures which have no date or an unreliable date
7.5.5
Problematic cases
7.5.6
Technical details and general remarks
7.6
Standards and standard preparatory documents
8.
Cross-references between prior art documents
9.
Errors in prior art documents
9.1
Incorrect compound records in online databases
Chapter V – Non-prejudicial disclosures
1.
General
2.
Time limit
3.
Evident abuse
4.
International exhibition
Chapter VI – Novelty
1.
State of the art pursuant to Art. 54(2)
2.
Implicit features or well-known equivalents
3.
Relevant date of a prior document
4.
Enabling disclosure of a prior document
5.
Generic disclosure and specific examples
6.
Implicit disclosure and parameters
7.
Examination of novelty
7.1
Second or further medical use of known pharmaceutical products
7.2
Second non-medical use
8.
Selection inventions
8.1
Error margins in numerical values
9.
Novelty of "reach-through" claims
Chapter VII – Inventive step
1.
General
2.
State of the art; date of filing
3.
Person skilled in the art
3.1
Common general knowledge of the skilled person
4.
Obviousness
5.
Problem-and-solution approach
5.1
Determination of the closest prior art
5.2
Formulation of the objective technical problem
5.3
Could-would approach
5.4
Claims comprising technical and non-technical aspects
5.4.1
"Requirements specification" in the formulation of the objective technical problem
6.
Combining pieces of prior art
7.
Combination vs. juxtaposition or aggregation
8.
"Ex post facto" analysis
9.
Origin of an invention
10.
Secondary indicators
10.1
Predictable disadvantage; non-functional modification; arbitrary choice
10.2
Unexpected technical effect; bonus effect
10.3
Long-felt need; commercial success
11.
Arguments and evidence submitted by the applicant
12.
Selection inventions
13.
Dependent claims; claims in different categories
14.
Examples
Annex
Examples relating to the requirement of inventive step – indicators
1.
Application of known measures?
2.
Obvious combination of features?
3.
Obvious selection?
4.
Overcoming a technical prejudice?