On November 20-21, 2019, an EAPO representative took part in the annual conference of the European Patent Office (EPO) “Boards of Appeal and key decisions 2019”, held in Munich, Germany.

Approximately 260 experts from more than 25 countries participated in the event – national and European patent attorneys, representatives of national IP offices, practicing lawyers in the field of patent law, and representatives of business community.

The most significant decisions of the EPO Board of Appeals related to the assessment of the novelty of chemical compounds, sufficiency of disclosure of the invention, patentability of computer modeling devices, as well as other issues related to the protection of inventions were presented to the audience.

This year’s conference focused on a detailed explanation of the new Rules of Procedure of the Boards, which will enter into force on January 1, 2020. On the basis of the new Rules, the Boards of Appeal session process was simulated during the event, which allowed to get acquainted in practice with the changes in the European appeal procedure.

The methodology of search in the EPO decisions database was demonstrated to the attendees, as well as the possibility to get comments on individual decisions of European judges.

The unique experience gained by studying the practice of the EPO Boards of Appeal and trends in the development of the European case law in general, is taken into account when developing the Eurasian patent legislation.