UPC Webinar Series on Substantive Patent Law

UPC Webinar Series on Substantive Patent Law – Patentability, Added Matter, Clarity and Sufficiency of Disclosure from a UPC Perspective

This three-part webinar series examines the law on patent validity before the Unified Patent Court. The first session will address claim interpretation and novelty, examining how the Court reads patent claims and prior art. The second session will turn to inventive step, focusing on the formulation of the objective technical problem and the assessment of obviousness from a “realistic starting point”. The third session will deal with added matter, clarity and sufficiency of disclosure, including the handling of intermediate generalisations and the application of the EPO’s “gold standard”.

Session 1: Claim Interpretation and Novelty – How to Read the Claim, How to Read the Prior Art
17 October 2025, 10:00–11:00 CET

The first session will address two fundamental aspects of substantive patent law before the Unified Patent Court: claim interpretation and the assessment of novelty. The discussion will focus on the principles guiding the reading of patent claims, including the role of the description and drawings, as well as the treatment of purpose-oriented and functionally defined features. On this basis, the session will examine the standards applied by the UPC when comparing the claimed subject-matter with the state of the art. Particular attention will be given to the question of what constitutes a direct and unambiguous disclosure in prior art documents and how the Court distinguishes between technical features that are limiting and those that are not. Throughout, the UPC’s approach will be set in context by comparison with established practice before the EPO and, where relevant, with national case law, highlighting points of convergence and divergence.

Session 2: Inventive Step – From Problem Formulation to Assessment of Obviousness
24 October 2025, 10:00–11:00 CET

The second session will focus on the substantive requirement of inventive step under the UPCA. Particular emphasis will be placed on the analytical framework used by the UPC, which requires the identification of a “realistic starting point” and the formulation of the objective technical problem on the basis of the specification of the patent in view of such realistic starting point. Against this background, the assessment will then turn to the question whether the claimed solution would have been obvious to the skilled person in light of the state of the art and common general knowledge. The treatment of secondary indicia, the avoidance of hindsight, and the role of the skilled person will also be addressed. Comparisons will be drawn with the EPO’s well-established problem–solution approach and, where instructive, with national jurisprudence on inventive step.

Session 3: Added Matter, Clarity and Sufficiency of Disclosure – The “Formal” Boundaries of Patent Protection and Amendments
29 October 2025, 10:00–11:00 CET

The third session will address more “formal” requirements that determine whether a patent may validly be maintained in the form in which it has been granted or amended, respectively. Central to the discussion will be the prohibition of added matter, including the treatment of intermediate generalisations and the application of the EPO’s “gold standard” for assessing whether subject-matter extends beyond the application as filed. Alongside this, the session will consider the level of precision required for clarity of claims – including the question in which situations clarity can be examined at all – and the standard for sufficiency of disclosure, focusing on what the skilled person must be able to derive and implement from the patent specification. The Court’s developing case law will again be examined in light of EPO practice and, where relevant, national approaches.