T 1055/92 vom 31.03.1994

I. The form and content of the claims in a European patent application are governed by the requirements of Article 84 and Rule 29 EPC.

According to Article 84, the claims shall define the matter for which protection is sought.

This function of the claims should be clearly distinguished from the requirement that the European patent application must disclose the invention in such a way that it enables a person skilled in the art to carry out that same invention.

II. Under Article 83, sufficient disclosure is required of a European patent application, i.e. of the application as a whole, comprising the claims, together with the description and the drawings, but not of an individual claim as such.

III. A claim in a European patent application must comprise the essential features of the invention (cf. T 32/82, OJ EPO 1984, 354); the essential features should in particular comprise those features which distinguish the invention from the closest prior art.