News

On 14 May 2020, the Enlarged Board of Appeal issued its opinion regarding the referral in case G 3/19 (Pepper). Explicitly abandoning its earlier decisions in cases G 2/12 (Tomatoes II) and G 2/13 (Broccoli II), it held that plants and animal products exclusively obtained by essentially biological processes are not patentable.

On Tuesday 5th May, four epi members (David Brophy, Bart van Wezenbeek, John Gray and Chris Mercer) took part in a recorded mock opposition division oral proceedings by videoconference.
The recorded mock OP module is now online!

On 31 March, we reported that your president had received a letter from the EPO President regarding the use of video-conferencing for oral proceedings. The EPO has informed users about this measure at a videoconference meeting of the SACEPO Working Party Rules, which the epi delegates have joined. Your president then sent a response to the EPO President, still on 31 March.

The President has now decided that videoconference would be the default for examination. The EPO will launch a pilot for videoconference in opposition. Please share your experience with us, here (examination) or here (opposition).

From the Presidium, a message to the members with information about:

• Cancellation of the Council meeting in Glasgow
• epi Secretariat continuity plans activated
• epi letter to the EPO regarding the EQE cancellation
• Short report of the "mock e-Council" meeting of the AC
• Letter from the EPO President regarding oral proceedings by videoconference
• Message from the International Bureau regarding postal mail and e-mail

This morning the German Federal Constitutional Court (“Bundesverfassungsgericht”) issued a long-awaited judgment on a complaint filed against the German legislation implementing the Unified Patent Court (UPC) Agreement.