EPO hosts well-received workshop on improving clarity in patent applications

The European Patent Office (EPO) held a two-day online workshop on 20-21 November, reinforcing its focus on patent clarity as part of the Quality Action Plan 2025.

The online workshop brought together 72 participants – users of the patent system, EPO experts, and judges – to discuss strategies for enhancing patent clarity. Attendees included representatives from industry and private practice working in a variety of technical fields. Members of the SACEPO Working Party on Quality (WP/Q), contributors to the EPO’s Stakeholder Quality Assurance Panels (SQAPs) and members of the European Patent Litigators Association (EPLIT) were also present, as well as members of the EPO Boards of Appeal and judges of the Unified Patent Court (UPC). The diversity of participants ensured a lively discussion and a wealth of perspectives on the shared responsibility for patent clarity.

Why hold a workshop on clarity?

Clarity is a topic which recurs in the EPO’s meetings with users and through our feedback channels. The challenges of patent clarity and its impact on the patent granting process were also raised at the SACEPO Working Party on Quality meeting in November 2023. Since then, SQAPs assessors have continued to identify clarity issues, such as the absence of essential features and ambiguous formulations in, for example, computer-implemented inventions. Based on its successful practice of discussion-based workshops on e.g. added subject-matter, the EPO therefore asked a broad range of participants how to enhance clarity and resolve related challenges.

Why is clarity important?

In his welcome address, Steve Rowan, EPO Vice-President Patent Granting Process, highlighted clarity in patent claims under Article 84 EPC as one of the cornerstones of a robust patent system. He explained that clarity benefits all stakeholders: applicants gain stronger, more enforceable patents; high-quality drafting by attorneys helps to minimise disputes; and a clear definition of the protection sought helps examiners to carry out an efficient evaluation. Ultimately, a clear patent landscape fosters innovation, enhances collaboration and supports economic growth.

The day’s proceedings

The workshop began with an overview of the legal framework for clarity objections, followed by discussions on effective and clear patent drafting. This set the stage for a discussion addressing challenges in the patent granting process arising from a lack of clarity, with two EPO and two external SQAP assessors sharing their perspectives and findings from recent SQAP sessions. A second discussion considered the consequences of clarity issues in post-grant procedures, followed by the presentation of a recent EPO study on clarity objections raised in search and written opinions. These sessions provided many insights, with one participant observing that “Clarity issues arise when there is a mismatch between the meaning of a word and its context,” and another asserting: “If the EPO were to not check for clarity, the first consequence that comes to mind is ‘chaos’.”

Participants then engaged in break-out sessions to discuss clarity issues in specific technology areas. A broad range of ideas was generated around what applicants, representatives and the EPO could do in the future to improve clarity. The workshop concluded with a plenary session to further reflect on these ideas and outline the way forward. Reflecting on the workshop, one participant said: “It was enormously successful and interesting. It feels like the beginning of a journey, not the end of a journey. We have a long way to go. Everybody was listening and learning from each other.” For further impressions, please see the video here.

Insights and outcomes

The workshop underscored the shared responsibility of both applicants and the EPO in meeting clarity requirements. It aimed to enhance understanding, improve claim drafting and ensure a predictable examination process, with outputs providing a foundation for continued efforts to streamline the patent granting process and uphold clarity in the European patent system. Meeting outcomes will be presented at the upcoming SACEPO WP/Q meeting on 26 November and will feed into the Quality Action Plan 2025 and the Quality Report 2024.