Skip to main content Skip to footer
HomeHome
 
  • Homepage
  • Searching for patents

    Patent knowledge

    Access our patent databases and search tools.

    Go to overview 

    • Overview
    • Technical information
      • Overview
      • Espacenet - patent search
      • European Publication Server
      • EP full-text search
    • Legal information
      • Overview
      • European Patent Register
      • European Patent Bulletin
      • European Case Law Identifier sitemap
      • Third-party observations
    • Business information
      • Overview
      • PATSTAT
      • IPscore
      • Technology insight reports
    • Data
      • Overview
      • Technology Intelligence Platform
      • Linked open EP data
      • Bulk data sets
      • Web services
      • Coverage, codes and statistics
    • Technology platforms
      • Overview
      • Plastics in transition
      • Water innovation
      • Space innovation
      • Technologies combatting cancer
      • Firefighting technologies
      • Clean energy technologies
      • Fighting coronavirus
    • Helpful resources
      • Overview
      • First time here?
      • Asian patent information
      • Patent information centres
      • Patent Translate
      • Patent Knowledge News
      • Business and statistics
      • Unitary Patent information in patent knowledge
    Image
    Plastics in Transition

    Technology insight report on plastic waste management

  • Applying for a patent

    Applying for a patent

    Practical information on filing and grant procedures.

    Go to overview 

    • Overview
    • European route
      • Overview
      • European Patent Guide
      • Oppositions
      • Oral proceedings
      • Appeals
      • Unitary Patent & Unified Patent Court
      • National validation
      • Request for extension/validation
    • International route (PCT)
      • Overview
      • Euro-PCT Guide – PCT procedure at the EPO
      • EPO decisions and notices
      • PCT provisions and resources
      • Extension/validation request
      • Reinforced partnership programme
      • Accelerating your PCT application
      • Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)
      • Training and events
    • National route
    • Find a professional representative
    • MyEPO services
      • Overview
      • Understand our services
      • Get access
      • File with us
      • Interact with us on your files
      • Online Filing & fee payment outages
    • Forms
      • Overview
      • Request for examination
    • Fees
      • Overview
      • European fees (EPC)
      • International fees (PCT)
      • Unitary Patent fees (UP)
      • Fee payment and refunds
      • Warning

    UP

    Find out how the Unitary Patent can enhance your IP strategy

  • Law & practice

    Law & practice

    European patent law, the Official Journal and other legal texts.

    Go to overview 

    • Overview
    • Legal texts
      • Overview
      • European Patent Convention
      • Official Journal
      • Guidelines
      • Extension / validation system
      • London Agreement
      • National law relating to the EPC
      • Unitary patent system
      • National measures relating to the Unitary Patent
    • Court practices
      • Overview
      • European Patent Judges' Symposium
    • User consultations
      • Overview
      • Ongoing consultations
      • Completed consultations
    • Substantive patent law harmonisation
      • Overview
      • The Tegernsee process
      • Group B+
    • Convergence of practice
    • Options for professional representatives
    Image
    Law and practice scales 720x237

    Keep up with key aspects of selected BoA decisions with our monthly "Abstracts of decisions”

  • News & events

    News & events

    Our latest news, podcasts and events, including the European Inventor Award.

    Go to overview 

     

    • Overview
    • News
    • Events
    • European Inventor Award
      • Overview
      • The meaning of tomorrow
      • About the award
      • Categories and prizes
      • Meet the finalists
      • Nominations
      • European Inventor Network
      • The 2024 event
    • Young Inventors Prize
      • Overview
      • About the prize
      • Nominations
      • The jury
      • The world, reimagined
    • Press centre
      • Overview
      • Patent Index and statistics
      • Search in press centre
      • Background information
      • Copyright
      • Press contacts
      • Call back form
      • Email alert service
    • Innovation and patenting in focus
      • Overview
      • Water-related technologies
      • CodeFest
      • Green tech in focus
      • Research institutes
      • Women inventors
      • Lifestyle
      • Space and satellites
      • The future of medicine
      • Materials science
      • Mobile communications
      • Biotechnology
      • Patent classification
      • Digital technologies
      • The future of manufacturing
      • Books by EPO experts
    • "Talk innovation" podcast

    Podcast

    From ideas to inventions: tune into our podcast for the latest in tech and IP

  • Learning

    Learning

    The European Patent Academy – the point of access to your learning

    Go to overview 

    • Overview
    • Learning activities and paths
      • Overview
      • Learning activities
      • Learning paths
    • EQE and EPAC
      • Overview
      • EQE - European qualifying examination
      • EPAC - European patent administration certification
      • CSP – Candidate Support Programme
    • Learning resources by area of interest
      • Overview
      • Patent granting
      • Technology transfer and dissemination
      • Patent enforcement and litigation
    • Learning resources by profile
      • Overview
      • Business and IP managers
      • EQE and EPAC Candidates
      • Judges, lawyers and prosecutors
      • National offices and IP authorities
      • Patent attorneys and paralegals
      • Universities, research centres and technology transfer centres (TTOs)
    Image
    Patent Academy catalogue

    Have a look at the extensive range of learning opportunities in the European Patent Academy training catalogue

  • About us

    About us

    Find out more about our work, values, history and vision

    Go to overview 

    • Overview
    • The EPO at a glance
    • 50 years of the EPC
      • Overview
      • Official celebrations
      • Member states’ video statements
      • 50 Leading Tech Voices
      • Athens Marathon
      • Kids’ collaborative art competition
    • Legal foundations and member states
      • Overview
      • Legal foundations
      • Member states of the European Patent Organisation
      • Extension states
      • Validation states
    • Administrative Council and subsidiary bodies
      • Overview
      • Communiqués
      • Calendar
      • Documents and publications
      • Administrative Council
    • Principles & strategy
      • Overview
      • Our mission, vision, values and corporate policy
      • Strategic Plan 2028
      • Towards a New Normal
    • Leadership & management
      • Overview
      • President António Campinos
      • Management Advisory Committee
    • Sustainability at the EPO
      • Overview
      • Environmental
      • Social
      • Governance and Financial sustainability
    • Services & activities
      • Overview
      • Our services & structure
      • Quality
      • Consulting our users
      • European and international co-operation
      • European Patent Academy
      • Chief Economist
      • Ombuds Office
      • Reporting wrongdoing
    • Observatory on Patents and Technology
      • Overview
      • Technologies
      • Innovation actors
      • Policy and funding
      • Tools
      • About the Observatory
    • Procurement
      • Overview
      • Procurement forecast
      • Doing business with the EPO
      • Procurement procedures
      • Sustainable Procurement Policy
      • About eTendering and electronic signatures
      • Procurement portal
      • Invoicing
      • General conditions
      • Archived tenders
    • Transparency portal
      • Overview
      • General
      • Human
      • Environmental
      • Organisational
      • Social and relational
      • Economic
      • Governance
    • Statistics and trends
      • Overview
      • Statistics & Trends Centre
      • Patent Index 2024
      • EPO Data Hub
      • Clarification on data sources
    • History
      • Overview
      • 1970s
      • 1980s
      • 1990s
      • 2000s
      • 2010s
      • 2020s
    • Art collection
      • Overview
      • The collection
      • Let's talk about art
      • Artists
      • Media library
      • What's on
      • Publications
      • Contact
      • Culture Space A&T 5-10
      • "Long Night"
    Image
    Patent Index 2024 keyvisual showing brightly lit up data chip, tinted in purple, bright blue

    Track the latest tech trends with our Patent Index

 
Website
cancel
en de fr
  • Language selection
  • English
  • Deutsch
  • Français
Main navigation
  • Homepage
    • Go back
    • New to patents
  • New to patents
    • Go back
    • Your business and patents
    • Why do we have patents?
    • What's your big idea?
    • Are you ready?
    • What to expect
    • How to apply for a patent
    • Is it patentable?
    • Are you first?
    • Patent quiz
    • Unitary patent video
  • Searching for patents
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • Technical information
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Espacenet - patent search
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • National patent office databases
        • Global Patent Index (GPI)
        • Release notes
      • European Publication Server
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Release notes
        • Cross-reference index for Euro-PCT applications
        • EP authority file
        • Help
      • EP full-text search
    • Legal information
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • European Patent Register
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Release notes archive
        • Register documentation
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Deep link data coverage
          • Federated Register
          • Register events
      • European Patent Bulletin
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Download Bulletin
        • EP Bulletin search
        • Help
      • European Case Law Identifier sitemap
      • Third-party observations
    • Business information
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • PATSTAT
      • IPscore
        • Go back
        • Release notes
      • Technology insight reports
    • Data
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Technology Intelligence Platform
      • Linked open EP data
      • Bulk data sets
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Manuals
        • Sequence listings
        • National full-text data
        • European Patent Register data
        • EPO worldwide bibliographic data (DOCDB)
        • EP full-text data
        • EPO worldwide legal event data (INPADOC)
        • EP bibliographic data (EBD)
        • Boards of Appeal decisions
      • Web services
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Open Patent Services (OPS)
        • European Publication Server web service
      • Coverage, codes and statistics
        • Go back
        • Weekly updates
        • Updated regularly
    • Technology platforms
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Plastics in transition
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Plastics waste recovery
        • Plastics waste recycling
        • Alternative plastics
      • Innovation in water technologies
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Clean water
        • Protection from water
      • Space innovation
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Cosmonautics
        • Space observation
      • Technologies combatting cancer
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Prevention and early detection
        • Diagnostics
        • Therapies
        • Wellbeing and aftercare
      • Firefighting technologies
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Detection and prevention of fires
        • Fire extinguishing
        • Protective equipment
        • Post-fire restoration
      • Clean energy technologies
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Renewable energy
        • Carbon-intensive industries
        • Energy storage and other enabling technologies
      • Fighting coronavirus
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Vaccines and therapeutics
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Vaccines
          • Overview of candidate therapies for COVID-19
          • Candidate antiviral and symptomatic therapeutics
          • Nucleic acids and antibodies to fight coronavirus
        • Diagnostics and analytics
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Protein and nucleic acid assays
          • Analytical protocols
        • Informatics
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Bioinformatics
          • Healthcare informatics
        • Technologies for the new normal
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Devices, materials and equipment
          • Procedures, actions and activities
          • Digital technologies
        • Inventors against coronavirus
    • Helpful resources
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • First time here?
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Basic definitions
        • Patent classification
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC)
        • Patent families
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • DOCDB simple patent family
          • INPADOC extended patent family
        • Legal event data
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • INPADOC classification scheme
      • Asian patent information
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • China (CN)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Facts and figures
          • Grant procedure
          • Numbering system
          • Useful terms
          • Searching in databases
        • Chinese Taipei (TW)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Grant procedure
          • Numbering system
          • Useful terms
          • Searching in databases
        • India (IN)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Facts and figures
          • Grant procedure
          • Numbering system
        • Japan (JP)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Facts and figures
          • Grant procedure
          • Numbering system
          • Useful terms
          • Searching in databases
        • Korea (KR)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Facts and figures
          • Grant procedure
          • Numbering system
          • Useful terms
          • Searching in databases
        • Russian Federation (RU)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Facts and figures
          • Numbering system
          • Searching in databases
        • Useful links
      • Patent information centres (PATLIB)
      • Patent Translate
      • Patent Knowledge News
      • Business and statistics
      • Unitary Patent information in patent knowledge
  • Applying for a patent
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • European route
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • European Patent Guide
      • Oppositions
      • Oral proceedings
        • Go back
        • Oral proceedings calendar
          • Go back
          • Calendar
          • Public access to appeal proceedings
          • Public access to opposition proceedings
          • Technical guidelines
      • Appeals
      • Unitary Patent & Unified Patent Court
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Unitary Patent
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Legal framework
          • Main features
          • Applying for a Unitary Patent
          • Cost of a Unitary Patent
          • Translation and compensation
          • Start date
          • Introductory brochures
        • Unified Patent Court
      • National validation
      • Extension/validation request
    • International route
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Euro-PCT Guide
      • Entry into the European phase
      • Decisions and notices
      • PCT provisions and resources
      • Extension/validation request
      • Reinforced partnership programme
      • Accelerating your PCT application
      • Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)
        • Go back
        • Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) programme outline
      • Training and events
    • National route
    • MyEPO services
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Understand our services
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Exchange data with us using an API
          • Go back
          • Release notes
      • Get access
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Release notes
      • File with us
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • What if our online filing services are down?
        • Release notes
      • Interact with us on your files
        • Go back
        • Release notes
      • Online Filing & fee payment outages
    • Fees
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • European fees (EPC)
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Decisions and notices
      • International fees (PCT)
        • Go back
        • Reduction in fees
        • Fees for international applications
        • Decisions and notices
        • Overview
      • Unitary Patent fees (UP)
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Decisions and notices
      • Fee payment and refunds
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Payment methods
        • Getting started
        • FAQs and other documentation
        • Technical information for batch payments
        • Decisions and notices
        • Release notes
      • Warning
    • Forms
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Request for examination
    • Find a professional representative
  • Law & practice
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • Legal texts
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • European Patent Convention
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Archive
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Documentation on the EPC revision 2000
            • Go back
            • Overview
            • Diplomatic Conference for the revision of the EPC
            • Travaux préparatoires
            • New text
            • Transitional provisions
            • Implementing regulations to the EPC 2000
            • Rules relating to Fees
            • Ratifications and accessions
          • Travaux Préparatoires EPC 1973
      • Official Journal
      • Guidelines
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • EPC Guidelines
        • PCT-EPO Guidelines
        • Unitary Patent Guidelines
        • Guidelines revision cycle
        • Consultation results
        • Summary of user responses
        • Archive
      • Extension / validation system
      • London Agreement
      • National law relating to the EPC
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Archive
      • Unitary Patent system
        • Go back
        • Travaux préparatoires to UP and UPC
      • National measures relating to the Unitary Patent 
    • Court practices
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • European Patent Judges' Symposium
    • User consultations
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Ongoing consultations
      • Completed consultations
    • Substantive patent law harmonisation
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • The Tegernsee process
      • Group B+
    • Convergence of practice
    • Options for professional representatives
  • News & events
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • News
    • Events
    • European Inventor Award
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • The meaning of tomorrow
      • About the award
      • Categories and prizes
      • Meet the inventors
      • Nominations
      • European Inventor Network
        • Go back
        • 2024 activities
        • 2025 activities
        • Rules and criteria
        • FAQ
      • The 2024 event
    • Young Inventors Prize
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • About the prize
      • Nominations
      • The jury
      • The world, reimagined
      • The 2025 event
    • Press centre
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Patent Index and statistics
      • Search in press centre
      • Background information
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • European Patent Office
        • Q&A on patents related to coronavirus
        • Q&A on plant patents
      • Copyright
      • Press contacts
      • Call back form
      • Email alert service
    • In focus
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Water-related technologies
      • CodeFest
        • Go back
        • CodeFest Spring 2025 on classifying patent data for sustainable development
        • Overview
        • CodeFest 2024 on generative AI
        • CodeFest 2023 on Green Plastics
      • Green tech in focus
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • About green tech
        • Renewable energies
        • Energy transition technologies
        • Building a greener future
      • Research institutes
      • Women inventors
      • Lifestyle
      • Space and satellites
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Patents and space technologies
      • Healthcare
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Medical technologies and cancer
        • Personalised medicine
      • Materials science
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Nanotechnology
      • Mobile communications
      • Biotechnology
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Red, white or green
        • The role of the EPO
        • What is patentable?
        • Biotech inventors
      • Classification
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Nanotechnology
        • Climate change mitigation technologies
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • External partners
          • Updates on Y02 and Y04S
      • Digital technologies
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • About ICT
        • Hardware and software
        • Artificial intelligence
        • Fourth Industrial Revolution
      • Additive manufacturing
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • About AM
        • AM innovation
      • Books by EPO experts
    • Podcast
  • Learning
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • Learning activities and paths
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Learning activities: types and formats
      • Learning paths
    • EQE and EPAC
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • EQE - European Qualifying Examination
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Compendium
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Paper F
          • Paper A
          • Paper B
          • Paper C
          • Paper D
          • Pre-examination
        • Candidates successful in the European qualifying examination
        • Archive
      • EPAC - European patent administration certification
      • CSP – Candidate Support Programme
    • Learning resources by area of interest
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Patent granting
      • Technology transfer and dissemination
      • Patent enforcement and litigation
    • Learning resources by profile
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Business and IP managers
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Innovation case studies
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • SME case studies
          • Technology transfer case studies
          • High-growth technology case studies
        • Inventor's handbook
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Introduction
          • Disclosure and confidentiality
          • Novelty and prior art
          • Competition and market potential
          • Assessing the risk ahead
          • Proving the invention
          • Protecting your idea
          • Building a team and seeking funding
          • Business planning
          • Finding and approaching companies
          • Dealing with companies
        • Best of search matters
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Tools and databases
          • EPO procedures and initiatives
          • Search strategies
          • Challenges and specific topics
        • Support for high-growth technology businesses
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Business decision-makers
          • IP professionals
          • Stakeholders of the Innovation Ecosystem
      • EQE and EPAC Candidates
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Paper F brain-teasers
        • Daily D questions
        • European qualifying examination - Guide for preparation
        • EPAC
      • Judges, lawyers and prosecutors
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Compulsory licensing in Europe
        • The jurisdiction of European courts in patent disputes
      • National offices and IP authorities
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Learning material for examiners of national officers
        • Learning material for formalities officers and paralegals
      • Patent attorneys and paralegals
      • Universities, research centres and TTOs
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Modular IP Education Framework (MIPEF)
        • Pan-European Seal Young Professionals Programme
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • For students
          • For universities
            • Go back
            • Overview
            • IP education resources
            • University memberships
          • Our young professionals
          • Professional development plan
        • Academic Research Programme
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Completed research projects
          • Current research projects
        • IP Teaching Kit
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Download modules
        • Intellectual property course design manual
        • PATLIB Knowledge Transfer to Africa
          • Go back
          • The PATLIB Knowledge Transfer to Africa initiative (KT2A)
          • KT2A core activities
          • Success story: Malawi University of Science and Technology and PATLIB Birmingham
  • About us
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • The EPO at a glance
    • 50 years of the EPC
      • Go back
      • Official celebrations
      • Overview
      • Member states’ video statements
        • Go back
        • Albania
        • Austria
        • Belgium
        • Bulgaria
        • Croatia
        • Cyprus
        • Czech Republic
        • Denmark
        • Estonia
        • Finland
        • France
        • Germany
        • Greece
        • Hungary
        • Iceland
        • Ireland
        • Italy
        • Latvia
        • Liechtenstein
        • Lithuania
        • Luxembourg
        • Malta
        • Monaco
        • Montenegro
        • Netherlands
        • North Macedonia
        • Norway
        • Poland
        • Portugal
        • Romania
        • San Marino
        • Serbia
        • Slovakia
        • Slovenia
        • Spain
        • Sweden
        • Switzerland
        • Türkiye
        • United Kingdom
      • 50 Leading Tech Voices
      • Athens Marathon
      • Kids’ collaborative art competition
    • Legal foundations and member states
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Legal foundations
      • Member states
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Member states by date of accession
      • Extension states
      • Validation states
    • Administrative Council and subsidiary bodies
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Communiqués
        • Go back
        • 2024
        • Overview
        • 2023
        • 2022
        • 2021
        • 2020
        • 2019
        • 2018
        • 2017
        • 2016
        • 2015
        • 2014
        • 2013
      • Calendar
      • Documents and publications
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Select Committee documents
      • Administrative Council
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Composition
        • Representatives
        • Rules of Procedure
        • Board of Auditors
        • Secretariat
        • Council bodies
    • Principles & strategy
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Mission, vision, values & corporate policy
      • Strategic Plan 2028
        • Go back
        • Driver 1: People
        • Driver 2: Technologies
        • Driver 3: High-quality, timely products and services
        • Driver 4: Partnerships
        • Driver 5: Financial sustainability
      • Towards a New Normal
      • Data protection & privacy notice
    • Leadership & management
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • About the President
      • Management Advisory Committee
    • Sustainability at the EPO
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Environmental
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Inspiring environmental inventions
      • Social
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Inspiring social inventions
      • Governance and Financial sustainability
    • Procurement
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Procurement forecast
      • Doing business with the EPO
      • Procurement procedures
      • Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) publications
      • Sustainable Procurement Policy
      • About eTendering
      • Invoicing
      • Procurement portal
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • e-Signing contracts
      • General conditions
      • Archived tenders
    • Services & activities
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Our services & structure
      • Quality
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Foundations
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • European Patent Convention
          • Guidelines for examination
          • Our staff
        • Enabling quality
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Prior art
          • Classification
          • Tools
          • Processes
        • Products & services
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Search
          • Examination
          • Opposition
          • Continuous improvement
        • Quality through networking
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • User engagement
          • Co-operation
          • User satisfaction survey
          • Stakeholder Quality Assurance Panels
        • Patent Quality Charter
        • Quality Action Plan
        • Quality dashboard
        • Statistics
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Search
          • Examination
          • Opposition
        • Integrated management at the EPO
      • Consulting our users
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Standing Advisory Committee before the EPO (SACEPO)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Objectives
          • SACEPO and its working parties
          • Meetings
          • Single Access Portal – SACEPO Area
        • Surveys
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Detailed methodology
          • Search services
          • Examination services, final actions and publication
          • Opposition services
          • Formalities services
          • Customer services
          • Filing services
          • Key Account Management (KAM)
          • Website
          • Archive
      • Our user service charter
      • European and international co-operation
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Co-operation with member states
          • Go back
          • Overview
        • Bilateral co-operation with non-member states
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Validation system
          • Reinforced Partnership programme
        • Multilateral international co-operation with IP offices and organisations
        • Co-operation with international organisations outside the IP system
      • European Patent Academy
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Partners
      • Chief Economist
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Economic studies
      • Ombuds Office
      • Reporting wrongdoing
    • Observatory on Patents and Technology
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Technologies
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Innovation against cancer
        • Assistive robotics
        • Space technologies
      • Innovation actors
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Startups and SMEs
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Publications
        • Research universities and public research organisations
      • Policy and funding
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Financing innovation programme
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Our studies on the financing of innovation
          • EPO initiatives for patent applicants
          • Financial support for innovators in Europe
        • Patents and standards
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Publications
          • Patent standards explorer
      • Tools
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Deep Tech Finder
      • About the Observatory
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Work plan
    • Transparency portal
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • General
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Annual Review 2023
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Foreword
          • Executive summary
          • 50 years of the EPC
          • Strategic key performance indicators
          • Goal 1: Engaged and empowered
          • Goal 2: Digital transformation
          • Goal 3: Master quality
          • Goal 4: Partner for positive impact
          • Goal 5: Secure sustainability
        • Annual Review 2022
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Foreword
          • Executive summary
          • Goal 1: Engaged and empowered
          • Goal 2: Digital transformation
          • Goal 3: Master quality
          • Goal 4: Partner for positive impact
          • Goal 5: Secure sustainability
      • Human
      • Environmental
      • Organisational
      • Social and relational
      • Economic
      • Governance
    • Statistics and trends
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Statistics & Trends Centre
      • Patent Index 2024
        • Go back
        • Insight into computer technology and AI
        • Insight into clean energy technologies
        • Statistics and indicators
          • Go back
          • European patent applications
            • Go back
            • Key trend
            • Origin
            • Top 10 technical fields
              • Go back
              • Computer technology
              • Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy
              • Digital communication
              • Medical technology
              • Transport
              • Measurement
              • Biotechnology
              • Pharmaceuticals
              • Other special machines
              • Organic fine chemistry
            • All technical fields
          • Applicants
            • Go back
            • Top 50
            • Categories
            • Women inventors
          • Granted patents
            • Go back
            • Key trend
            • Origin
            • Designations
      • Data to download
      • EPO Data Hub
      • Clarification on data sources
    • History
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • 1970s
      • 1980s
      • 1990s
      • 2000s
      • 2010s
      • 2020s
    • Art collection
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • The collection
      • Let's talk about art
      • Artists
      • Media library
      • What's on
      • Publications
      • Contact
      • Culture Space A&T 5-10
        • Go back
        • Catalyst lab & Deep vision
          • Go back
          • Irene Sauter (DE)
          • AVPD (DK)
          • Jan Robert Leegte (NL)
          • Jānis Dzirnieks (LV) #1
          • Jānis Dzirnieks (LV) #2
          • Péter Szalay (HU)
          • Thomas Feuerstein (AT)
          • Tom Burr (US)
          • Wolfgang Tillmans (DE)
          • TerraPort
          • Unfinished Sculpture - Captives #1
          • Deep vision – immersive exhibition
          • Previous exhibitions
        • The European Patent Journey
        • Sustaining life. Art in the climate emergency
        • Next generation statements
        • Open storage
        • Cosmic bar
      • "Long Night"
  • Boards of Appeal
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • Decisions of the Boards of Appeal
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Recent decisions
      • Selected decisions
    • Information from the Boards of Appeal
    • Procedure
    • Oral proceedings
    • About the Boards of Appeal
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • President of the Boards of Appeal
      • Enlarged Board of Appeal
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Pending referrals (Art. 112 EPC)
        • Decisions sorted by number (Art. 112 EPC)
        • Pending petitions for review (Art. 112a EPC)
        • Decisions on petitions for review (Art. 112a EPC)
      • Technical Boards of Appeal
      • Legal Board of Appeal
      • Disciplinary Board of Appeal
      • Presidium
        • Go back
        • Overview
    • Code of Conduct
    • Business distribution scheme
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Technical boards of appeal by IPC in 2025
      • Archive
    • Annual list of cases
    • Communications
    • Annual reports
      • Go back
      • Overview
    • Publications
      • Go back
      • Abstracts of decisions
    • Case Law of the Boards of Appeal
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Archive
  • Service & support
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • Website updates
    • Availability of online services
      • Go back
      • Overview
    • FAQ
      • Go back
      • Overview
    • Publications
    • Ordering
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Patent Knowledge Products and Services
      • Terms and conditions
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Patent information products
        • Bulk data sets
        • Open Patent Services (OPS)
        • Fair use charter
    • Procedural communications
    • Useful links
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Patent offices of member states
      • Other patent offices
      • Directories of patent attorneys
      • Patent databases, registers and gazettes
      • Disclaimer
    • Contact us
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Filing options
      • Locations
    • Subscription centre
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Subscribe
      • Change preferences
      • Unsubscribe
    • Official holidays
    • Glossary
    • RSS feeds
Board of Appeals
Decisions

Recent decisions

Overview
  • 2025 decisions
  • 2024 decisions
  • 2023 decisions
  1. Home
  2. T 1082/05 (Pigment composition/CIBA - STORA KOPPARBERGS) 26-09-2007
Facebook X Linkedin Email

T 1082/05 (Pigment composition/CIBA - STORA KOPPARBERGS) 26-09-2007

European Case Law Identifier
ECLI:EP:BA:2007:T108205.20070926
Date of decision
26 September 2007
Case number
T 1082/05
Petition for review of
-
Application number
00920655.8
IPC class
C09B 67/22
Language of proceedings
EN
Distribution
DISTRIBUTED TO BOARD CHAIRMEN (C)

Download and more information:

Decision in EN 36.27 KB
Documentation of the appeal procedure can be found in the European Patent Register
Bibliographic information is available in:
EN
Versions
Unpublished
Application title

Pigment compositions and process of shading

Applicant name
Ciba Specialty Chemicals Holding Inc., et al
Opponent name
CLARIANT INTERNATIONAL LTD
Board
3.3.01
Headnote
-
Relevant legal provisions
European Patent Convention Art 123(2) 1973
European Patent Convention Art 114(2) 1973
European Patent Convention Art 56 1973
European Patent Convention R 65 1973
Keywords

Admissibility of an appeal solely based on documents first filed during the appeal - yes

Admission of late filed documents

Inventive step (no) - obvious alternative

Catchword
-
Cited decisions
T 0389/95
T 0932/99
T 0980/97
T 0122/93
T 0119/82
Citing decisions
T 1029/05
T 1146/06
T 1647/09

I. The Opponent lodged an appeal against the interlocutory decision of the Opposition Division that the European patent No. 1 165 696 as amended meets the requirements of the EPC.

II. The decision under appeal refers to claims 1 to 25 filed with the letter dated 21 March 2005 (see the front page and the penultimate paragraph of point II), claim 1 of these reading as follows:

"1. A composition comprising

a) a mixture of C.I. Pigment Violet 19 together with either C.I. Pigment Blue 15 or C.I. Pigment Blue 60,

b) a dispersant,

c) optionally a biocide, and

d) water,

which contains 10 to 40 % by weight, based on the total weight of the dispersion, of pigment mixture, component a)."

The claims annexed to the decision under appeal differ therefrom in that in claim 1 the expression "of the dispersion," is missing.

III. Opposition had been filed against the patent in suit for lack of novelty and lack of inventive step of the subject-matter claimed (Article 100(a) EPC).

In its decision the opposition division considered the subject-matter of the claims to be novel on the ground that documents (1) and (2) only disclose compositions containing less than 10 % by weight of pigments while document (5) does not disclose compositions containing water. It held that the subject-matter claimed involves an inventive step as document (6) does not disclose the use of the pigments mentioned therein for dyeing or shading of paper, whereas document (7) only discloses the use of C.I. Pigment Blue 15 for dyeing paper.

IV. Oral proceedings before the Board were held on 26 September 2007. During these proceedings, the respondents submitted a set of 25 amended claims as the basis of their sole request.

Claim 1 of this set reads as follows:

"1. A composition consisting of

a) a mixture of C.I. Pigment Violet 19 together with either C.I. Pigment Blue 15 or C.I. Pigment Blue 60,

b) a dispersant,

c) optionally a biocide, and

d) water,

which contains 10 to 40 % of pigments, based on the weight of the composition."

V. The following documents were inter alia cited in the opposition and appeal proceedings:

(1) EP-A-0 881 523

(2) WO-A-00 22 232

(4) Registry file printout for the registry numbers 147-14-8, 81-77-6, 4051-63-2, and 1047-16-1 from Chemical Abstracts, Chemical Abstracts Service, Columbus OH/US

(5) US-A-3 577 379

(6) Brochure "Clariant Lieferprogramm für die Druckfarben-, Lack- Kunststoff-Industrie und weitere Anwendungen" dated "Januar 1998", pages 1, 31, 64

(7) FR-A-800 242

(8) Brochure "®Flexonyl-Pigment-Präparationen", Hoechst AG, dated "01.97", 8 pages

(9) Brochure "Manual of Dyes and Pigments for Special Fields", Hoechst AG, bearing the code

"DP 5518 E 08.96 /035" on the last page, page 147

(11) Lin Hai, China Pulp & Paper, no. 4, July 1998, 18-22, and an English translation thereof

(12) E. Wenderoth and B. Hunke, Wochenblatt für Papierfabrikation 16, 1993, 649-653

(13) F. Muller et al., Paper Southern Africa, April 1993, pages 4, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 22

(14) Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, 5th edn., vol. A18, VCH Verlagsgesellschaft, Weinheim/DE 1991, 545-547 and 613-614

(15) DE-A-1 923 846

(16) DE-B-1 183 884

(19) Handbuch der Papier- und Pappenfabrikation (Papierlexikon), 2nd edn., vol. II, Dr. Martin Sändig oHG, Niederwalluf, 1971, 2040-2044

(23) EP-A-0 753 544

(24) Brochure "Ciba® IRGALITE® Blue R-L Paper Pigment", Ciba Speciality Chemicals Inc., January 2005, 2 pages

Of these, documents (8), (9) and (11) to (16) were first submitted by the Appellant with the letter dated 17 October 2005 setting out the grounds of appeal, and documents (19), (23) and (24) with Appellant's letter dated 15 August 2007.

VI. The Appellant (Opponent) considered document (11) to represent the closest prior art and argued in essence as follows:

The problem solved was to provide further pigment compositions which allow the shading of food packaging materials so as to improve their whiteness, and which are easier to apply.

The subject-matter claimed in claim 1 differs from the disclosure in document (11) in that present claim 1 requires C.I. Pigment Violet 19 to be employed and the pigment mixture to be in the form of a dispersion.

The use of C.I. Pigment Violet 19 for shading paper was known from document (8), the use of an anionic dispersing agent from documents (15) and (23). Therefore, the subject-matter of claim 1 is not based on an inventive step.

VII. The Respondents (Proprietors of the Patent) argued that the appeal was not admissible since it was completely based on newly filed documents. They doubted that documents (8) and (9) had been available to the public before the priority date of the patent in suit. They contended that the English translation of document (11) was not reliable because at least the penultimate line preceding paragraph 2.2.7 was not translated.

Whereas the wording "consisting of" in present claim 1 excludes the presence of a fluorescent whitening agent (FWA), such an agent is mandatory in the compositions disclosed in document (11). The problem solved by the patent in suit with respect to document (11) was to provide pigment dispersions which can be used for the shading of food packaging materials, especially for paper, and which are stable for a longer period of time (see paragraphs [0002] and [0037] of the patent in suit). Document (11) neither addresses the storage stability of pigment dispersions nor gives any indication that the FWA might be omitted. Moreover, document (19) discloses that whitening of paper using blue pigments reduces its brightness so that the person skilled in the art would not have omitted the FWA (see document (19), left column of page 2042, third paragraph from the bottom).

VIII. The Appellant requested that the decision under appeal be set aside and the patent be revoked.

The Respondents requested that the decision under appeal be set aside and the patent be maintained on the basis of claims 1 to 25 submitted during the oral proceedings before the Board.

IX. At the end of the oral proceedings the decision of the Board was announced.

1. Admissibility of the Appeal

1.1 The Respondents doubted that the appeal was admissible due to the fact that it is totally based on documents presented for the first time with the letter setting out the grounds for appeal or later in the appeal proceedings.

An appeal is inadmissible if it does not comply with Articles 106 to 108, Rule 1, paragraph 1 and Rule 64 EPC (see Rule 65 EPC).

These provisions require that "... a written statement setting out the grounds for appeal must be filed ." but do not specify on which evidence these grounds are to be based (see Article 108 EPC).

Hence, the provisions of the EPC do not give any indication that an appeal the grounds of which are based completely on newly filed documents would be inadmissible.

In line with this it is the consistent jurisdiction of the Boards of Appeal that an appeal is not to be considered inadmissible merely because it is based on evidence submitted for the first time with the grounds for appeal (e.g. T 389/95 of 15 October 1997, not published in the OJ EPO, point 1 of the reasons; T 932/99 of 3 August 2004, not published in the OJ EPO, point 1.3 of the reasons).

1.2 The Board has verified that the appeal does comply with the provisions under Articles 106 to 108, Rule 1, paragraph 1 and Rule 64 EPC. Hence it is admissible.

2. Amendments (Article 123(2) and (3) EPC

2.1 The Appellant argued that the replacement of the word "comprising" by "consisting of" in claim 1 contravened the requirements of Article 123(2) EPC.

The examples 1 and 7 as originally filed disclose compositions consisting of the components listed in present claim 1 and thus form a basis for said replacement (see T 980/97 of 29 September 1999, point 3.1 of the reasons; see T 122/93 of 30 April 1996, point 2 of the reasons; both decisions not published in the OJ EPO).

A further basis for present claim 1 in the application as filed is found in claim 1 in combination with page 2, fourth paragraph, of the description.

Present claims 2-25 are based on claims 2-13 and 15-25 and on page 2, third paragraph of the description, both as originally filed.

Therefore, the amendments meet the requirements of Article 123(2) EPC.

2.2 The claims under consideration differ from the granted ones in that in claim 1 the amount of component a) has been specified, thus restricting the scope of the claims.

Therefore, the amendments meet the requirements of Article 123(3) EPC.

3. Late filed documents

3.1 Document (8) consists of pages of a brochure of Hoechst AG and bears the footnote "01.97" on pages 4 to 8. The Appellant contended that the brochure has been printed in January 1997 and distributed shortly afterwards. He has, however, not provided any evidence for this contention, so that it is not proven that this document had indeed been made available to the public before the priority date of the patent in suit (i.e. before 8 April 1999).

3.2 Document (24) has been published after the relevant priority date and describes "Ciba® IRGALITE® Blue R-L" merely as "A Copper phthalocyanine pigment preparation". It thus cannot serve as evidence for the Appellant's contention that the IRGALITE® Blue R-L mentioned in document (11) is C.I. Pigment Blue 15.

3.3 The Board exercised its discretion under Article 114(2) EPC by not admitting documents (8) and (24) to the appeal proceedings as none of them is prima facie relevant for the outcome of these appeal proceedings.

4. Reliability of the English Translation of Document (11)

4.1 The Respondents argued that the English translation of document (11) was not reliable as at least the penultimate line preceding paragraph 2.2.7 was not translated (see point VII above).

4.2 This line consists of one Chinese character, the number 6, three Chinese characters, the letter C, one Chinese character, the letters CIE, and, finally, three Chinese characters (see the right hand column on page 21 of the Chinese text).

The wording of this line is identical with those of the lines immediately under the Figures in the left hand column of the same page, except that

- the number 6 is replaced by the numbers 4 and 5, respectively,

- the first letter C is replaced by the letters A and B, respectively.

These two lines under the figures in the left hand column of page 21 of the Chinese text were translated as follows:

"Figure 4. CIE Shade Diagram for Formulation A" and

"Figure 5. CIE Shade Diagram for Formulation B".

It follows that the line not translated has the meaning

"Figure 6. CIE Shade Diagram for Formulation C".

4.3 This omission of the subtitle of Figure 6 - evidently by error - renders the translation incomplete in this respect but does not give rise to reasonable doubts as to the correctness of the translation as a whole.

Therefore, the Board has no reason to assume that the English translation of document (11) is not reliable.

5. Novelty

During the oral proceedings before the Board, the Appellant no longer contested the novelty of the subject-matter of the present claims and the Board sees no reason to question it either. In view of the outcome of this appeal there is no need to give detailed reasons in that respect.

6. Inventive step

6.1 In accordance with the "problem-solution" approach consistently applied by the Boards of Appeal, it is necessary, as a first step, to establish the closest state of the art which is normally a prior art document disclosing subject-matter aiming at the same objective as the claimed invention and having the most relevant technical features in common.

The objective of the patent in suit is "to provide a pigment composition which can be used for the shading of food packaging materials, especially such materials which are made of paper." (see paragraph [0002] of the patent in suit). The shading of paper improves its whiteness (see paragraph [0035]).

Document (11) is the only document cited in the opposition and appeal proceedings dealing with the shading of paper with a combination of violet and blue pigments. It thus represents the closest prior art.

More specifically, this document deals with the use of fluorescent whitening agents and shading dyes for the whitening of paper (see its title). The document recommends blends of violet and blue pigments for shading ordinary paper and defines such blends by citing the trade names of the pigments (see Figure 1 on page 6, the second paragraph on page 2, chapter 2.3.3 on page 12, chapter 3.4 on page 13 and chapter 3.6 on page 14 of the English translation).

6.2 Then it has to be determined which technical problem was to be solved in view of the closest prior art and if this problem was indeed solved over the whole scope of the subject-matter claimed.

The Respondents referred to the problems and advantages mentioned in paragraphs [0002] and [0037] of the patent in suit.

6.2.1 Paragraph [0037] of the patent in suit claims that "Furthermore, the dispersions are stable for a longer period of time and can therefore be stored before application, without showing deposits resulting in deterious application properties."

However, neither does the patent in suit contain any data indicating that the dispersions show an increased stability, nor have the Respondents provided any evidence in this respect.

Hence, this alleged effect cannot be taken into account when determining which problem is solved.

6.2.2 According to paragraph [0002] of the patent in suit the subject-matter claimed was "... to provide a pigment composition which can be used for the shading of food packaging materials, especially such materials which are made of paper."

Document (11) provides pigment preparations for the shading of paper (see the abstract and the paragraph immediately preceding chapter 1). The Respondents did not provide any evidence showing that the pigment compositions disclosed in document (11) were not suitable for the shading of food packaging materials made of paper.

6.2.3 Therefore, the problem solved in view of document (11) can only be considered as to provide alternative pigment compositions which can be used for the shading of food packaging materials.

The examples in the patent in suit show that this problem is indeed solved.

6.3 It remains to be determined whether or not the claimed solution to the technical problem mentioned above was obvious in view of the cited prior art as a whole.

6.3.1 Document (11) discloses shading paper by means of a fluorescent whitening agent (FWA) and violet and blue shading dyes (see the abstract). One of the shading compositions disclosed there contains the pigments Irgalite Violet M and Irgalite Blue RL (see the paragraph immediately preceding chapter 1.1.2, and Figure 1). The Respondents mentioned that these pigments are C.I. Pigment Violet 3 and C.I. Pigment Blue 15:1 (see page 3, lines 4-7, of their letter dated 23 February 2006).

However, document (11) also reports on experiments using combinations of other blue and violet dyes (see Figure 6, in particular compositions H, I, L, G, J and K defined in the footnotes, and chapters 2.3.3 and 3.6). So, the teaching of document (11) is clearly not limited to the use of blends of C.I. Pigment Violet 3 and C.I. Pigment Blue 15:1.

Moreover, the person skilled in the art knew that the whitening observed in document (11) was due to the fact that to the human eye a paper having a yellow tinge is considered to be less bright than one having a blue tinge of comparable intensity (see e.g. document (19), page 2042, right hand column, the first two paragraphs of the chapter "Weißfärbung"). Hence, the whitening observed in document (11) is due to the colours and not to the chemical structures of the violet and blue pigments used.

So, the teaching of document (11) reads on any blend of violet and blue pigments.

This is in line with the third sentence of the abstract which states in general that violet and blue dyes can raise the whiteness of paper (see page 1 of the English translation and the abstract in English on page 22 of the original document).

6.3.2 The person skilled in the art looking for alternative pigment compositions which can be used for the shading of food packaging materials would therefore have taken into consideration any violet and blue pigments, such as the pigment preparations disclosed in document (23).

Document (23) discloses liquid pigment preparations which may be used for many purposes including the manufacture of printing inks (see column 1, lines 3-5 and 16-25). These preparations contain from 20 to 60 % by weight, preferably from 30 to 50 % by weight of pigment (see column 3, lines 21-35). Dispersions in aqueous or aqueous organic media are preferred (see column 7, lines 26-32).

Examples 3 and 18 of said document disclose aqueous dispersions of C.I. Pigment Blue 15 with a pigment concentration of 37 % by weight and an ethoxylated novolak as the dispersant, example 11 discloses a dispersion of C.I. Pigment Red 122 and C.I. Pigment Violet 19 in an organic medium with a total pigment concentration of 24 % by weight, and example 5 an aqueous dispersion of C.I. Pigment Blue 15:1 and C.I. Pigment Violet 23 with a total pigment concentration of 30 % by weight and an ethoxylated novolak as the dispersant.

According to the established jurisprudence of the Boards of Appeal, the disclosure of a prior art document is not confined to the detailed information given in a specific example. Document (23) also discloses to the person skilled in the art aqueous dispersions containing blue and violet pigments (as disclosed in example 5) in a total pigment concentration of from 20 to 60 % by weight, preferably of from 30 to 50 % by weight based on the weight of the composition (as disclosed in column 3, lines 21-35) where the blue pigment is C.I. Pigment Blue 15 (as disclosed in examples 3 and 18) and the violet pigment is C.I. Pigment Violet 19 (as disclosed in example 11).

Therefore it was obvious to the expert to replace the blend of C.I. Pigment Violet 3 and C.I. Pigment Blue 15:1 disclosed in document (11) by an aqueous dispersion of C.I. Pigment Violet 19 and C.I. Pigment Blue 15, where said dispersion contains a dispersant and has a total pigment concentration of from 20 to 60 % by weight based on the weight of the composition.

6.3.3 Document (11) discloses pigment compositions containing a fluorescent whitening agent (FWA) as a mandatory component. Present claim 1 restricts the components to components a) to d) by the use of the expression "consisting of" and thus excludes the presence of a FWA.

The Respondents argued that the omission of the FWA was not obvious as document (11) discloses that shading with violet and blue dyes in the absence of any FWA slightly reduced the brightness of the paper (see the third sentence of the abstract and chapters 3.1 and 3.4).

However, the Respondents have neither provided any evidence demonstrating that such a decrease in brightness does not occur when the pigment compositions presently claimed are used, nor did they claim an unexpected effect due to the absence of the FWA. Hence, it has to be expected that the omission of the FWA in the pigment compositions disclosed in document (11) merely results in a predictable disadvantage with respect to those disclosed in the prior art and cannot contribute to the presence of an inventive step (see T 119/82, OJ EPO 1984, 217, point 16 of the reasons).

6.4 In conclusion the person skilled in the art would have tried to solve the problem mentioned above by replacing in document (11) the combination of violet and blue pigments cited therein by an aqueous dispersion of C.I. Pigment Violet 19 and C.I. Pigment Blue 15 having a total pigment concentration of from 20 to 60 % by weight, preferably of from 30 to 50 % by weight, and including a dispersant while omitting the FWA.

6.5 When doing this, he is directed towards the solution which is now the object of claim 1 of the patent in suit. For these reasons, the subject-matter of claim 1 is not based on an inventive step

7. As the subject-matter of claim 1 of the sole request is not based on an inventive step and the Board can only decide on a request as a whole, the patent is revoked.

Order

ORDER

For these reasons it is decided that:

1. The decision under appeal is set aside.

2. The patent is revoked.

Footer - Service & support
  • Service & support
    • Website updates
    • Availability of online services
    • FAQ
    • Publications
    • Procedural communications
    • Contact us
    • Subscription centre
    • Official holidays
    • Glossary
Footer - More links
  • Jobs & careers
  • Press centre
  • Single Access Portal
  • Procurement
  • Boards of Appeal
Facebook
European Patent Office
EPO Jobs
Instagram
EuropeanPatentOffice
Linkedin
European Patent Office
EPO Jobs
EPO Procurement
X (formerly Twitter)
EPOorg
EPOjobs
Youtube
TheEPO
Footer
  • Legal notice
  • Terms of use
  • Data protection and privacy
  • Accessibility