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In the case underlying decision X ZB 1/16 ("Ventileinrichtung") discussed below, an opponent attacked a patent-in-suit based on lack of patentability. The Opposition Division of the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) maintained the patent-in-suit as granted. In appeal proceedings, the complainant (opponent) introduced inadmissible extension as a new ground of opposition. The German Federal Patent Court (BPatG) fully revoked the patent-in-suit on the basis of inadmissible extension. The patentee filed an appeal on points of law against the BPatG's decision.

It is well known that the EPO generally applies a rather strict approach when examining whether or not amendments made after filing extend beyond the contents of the application as filed. One frequently occurring type of claim amendment is the replacement or removal of a feature from a claim. According to a landmark decision, T 331/87 of 1989, the replacement or removal of a feature may not violate the provision governing added subject-matter (article 123(2) EPC) if the skilled person would directly and unambiguously recognise that:

Once the Unified Patent Court is up and running, patent owners and defendants will have some interesting choices to make about representation

The number of pharma patent complaints at the International Trade Commission was up greatly last year. Natalie Rahhal analyses what is driving this and what benefits the ITC brings for pharmaceutical companies

The USPTO recently made permanent a pilot programme to conduct random audits of post-registration affidavits of use. Jason Vogel and Sam Kilb explain what trade mark owners need to know about the changes and suggest best practices

A dispute over Hotel California, en banc argument in Wi-Fi One at the Federal Circuit, a 64% increase in hashtag trade mark applications, a paper discussing IP protection for emojis, and the US government urging the Supreme Court not to hear the dancing baby copyright case were in the recent intellectual property news

More than 300 cases have been filed so far involving Defend Trade Secret Act claims, but only two ex parte seizure orders have been granted. Areas of the DTSA where uncertainty still exists include hacking, cloud-based activities and employee access

The tobacco industry got a rude awakening two weeks ago as a decision by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) supporting Australia’s plain packaging measures for cigarettes was apparently leaked

How could blockchain help fashion and other IP-intensive industries? Ruth Burstall and Birgit Clark investigate its potential use in registration, tracking, enforcement and payment

Samsung and Intel supporting the FTC’s lawsuit against Qualcomm, the latest in the Waymo/Uber trade secrets dispute, Amgen filing a BPCIA lawsuit, a copyright case involving Conan O’Brien jokes, Cloudflare going on the offensive against Blackbird Tech and a covered business method survey were in the recent intellectual property news