3. Amendments in claims
3.4 Further cases of broadening of claims
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A revised version of this publication entered into force. |
The deletion of a statement regarding use or intended purpose in an independent product claim fulfils the requirements of Art. 123(2) only if the application as filed offers a basis for the assumption that the product can also be used in some other way (and if the statement of purpose does not amount to a functional limitation).
The broadening of a claim by exchanging a particular feature for a more general feature cannot be based on an indication that it would be obvious for a skilled person (see also H‑V, 3.2.1).
Moreover, the deletion of a particular feature or its replacement by a more general feature usually leads to a broadening of the claim. Therefore, the requirements of Art. 123(3) are not fulfilled.