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Our services are centred around intellectual property that can be registered. We protect innovation, design, and branding across all sectors of industry, and at all stages in the supply chain.
For each IP right we offer services covering strategic advice, pre-registration searches, registrations and renewals, oppositions and dispute resolution. We handle work throughout the world, working with local colleagues in over 100 countries.
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Our attorneys specialise in one or more sectors of industry, which enables them to provide quality advice with a commercial focus.
Our patent specialists have detailed understanding of the background technology, which ensures that your patent applications are prepared with the correct scope, reducing the likelihood of challenges from third parties and objections from the patent office.
They also advise whether other forms of protection would be more appropriate. Our brand specialists work with brand managers for leading brands and their advice is commercially focussed making sure that you get the best value from your budget.
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A recent decision, T 1158/20, of the EPO’s Technical Board of Appeal tells us that hosting oral proceedings by videoconference can be, for some cases, an equivalent alternative to in-person oral proceedings.
Almost all EPO opposition hearings are now conducted by videoconference (VICO). VICO opposition hearings have been very successful and are no doubt here to stay. In general, the EPO will insist that opposition hearings are carried out by VICO unless there are exceptional reasons for an in-person hearing. Only two VICO hearings have been changed from VICO to be in-person in the last three years.
A petition for review is a way to challenge the final decision of the Technical Board of Appeal (“the TBA”) of the EPO. Since December 2007, when petitions for review were first made an available recourse, only 9 of 191 petitions succeeded – that is, resulted in the decision under review being set aside – putting the overall hit-rate at 4.7%. Clearly, the petitioner is rarely triumphant.
The EPO has recently extended the pilot program for oral proceedings by videoconference (VICO) before opposition divisions until 31 December 2022. This means that opposition oral proceedings will continue to be held by VICO until the end of this year, unless there are serious reasons not to.
Following the oral proceedings that took place two weeks’ ago, the EPO’s Enlarged Board of Appeal has today (16 July 2021) given its answer to the referred question in case G1/21 – whether oral proceedings can be held by video conference without the consent of the parties.
Oral proceedings in case G1/21 took place today (2 July 2021) for the second time in case, after proceedings were adjourned at the first oral proceedings that took place last month. While we don’t know what the outcome of the oral proceedings will be, the proceedings were at least properly concluded and we can expect the written decision in due course.
In their recent decision (T1839/18), the boards of appeal re-affirmed the legality of straw man oppositions. Although this in itself is not news, we felt it offered a good opportunity to look again at the many advantages of anonymously opposing a European patent.
The oral proceedings before the Enlarged Board of Appeal to discuss the question of whether oral proceedings by video conference can be appointed without the consent of the parties was held (by video conference) today. However, we are still no closer to finding out whether video conference can be used for all oral proceedings without […]
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