In Europe and the US, patentability depends on a showing of inventiveness that is based on similar legal requirements but practice differs substantially and the resulting patent quality varies.

The grounds of opposition are set out in Article 100 EPC. To paraphrase, these include that the subject-matter of the European patent is not patentable under Articles 52 to 57 (novelty, inventive step ...

Proposed reforms to inventive step requirements mean stricter criteria, but will bring Australia’s law closer to that of its trading partners, says Magda Bramante of Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick The ...

The UPC Court of Appeal has now provided clear guidance on how the UPC should determine whether a patent involves an inventive step. This endorses the “holistic” approach, establishing what the ...

In Europe, the inventive step is generally assessed by applying the 'problem/solution' approach, which consists of three main stages: first, determining the 'closest prior art'; second, establishing ...

“U.S. courts have made clear that mere plausibility is not the test for enablement, finding that patentees could otherwise obtain patent rights to purported inventions consisting of little more than ...

Dutch e-cigarette manufacturer NJOY attacked a patent held by its competitor VMR Products, a subsidiary of Juul Labs. The challenged patent (EP 3 626 092, “EP’092”) related to an electronic cigarette, ...

This is an Insight article, written by a selected contributor as part of WTR's co-published content. Read more on Insight It is paramount in a patent examination to determine whether an invention ...

Shi Bisheng, the author of Research on Assessment of Inventive Step of Patent, is also a judge of the IP Tribunal of the Beijing Higher People’s Court. He holds a bachelor degree in Engineering from ...

Article 22 of the Patent Act provides that, where an invention can be easily made by a person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA) based on prior art, no invention patent shall be granted, ...