Novelty and inventive step - Intermediate level
Date
Start: 18.06.2012
End: 22.06.2012
Location
Munich, Germany
Organised by
Working language(s)
English
Description
Participants will have a good understanding of the criteria used in the determination of novelty and inventive step, and will be confident in applying the problem solution approach for the assessment of inventive step. They will also be able to deal with special cases related to novelty and inventive step.
Target groups
Staff of national patent offices of the EPO member states
Level of expertise
Intermediate
Content
- Review of novelty-assessment criteria
- Review of inventive-step assessment, including the problem-solution approach
- Review of types of prior art and the use thereof
- Special cases, such as partial problems, alternative solutions, implicit features, selection inventions, and juxtaposition/aggregation of features
- Other indications of inventive step
- Comparison between national and EPO case law
- Practical exercises related to assessment of novelty and inventive step, including special cases. The seminar takes account of different technical areas (chemistry, physics-electricity and mechanics).
Prerequisites
Participants must have attended the entry level seminar OS13-2012, and/or have a minimum of two years patent examination experience. A very good command of spoken and written English is required.
Objectives
Participants will
- improve their skills in assessing novelty and inventive step
- get a brief review of the basics of novelty and inventive-step assessment, including feature analysis of the claims and the prior art, priority and intermediate document issues, and the problem-solution approach
- have lectures on special cases related to novelty and inventive step, such as partial problems, alternative solutions, implicit features, selection inventions and juxtaposition/aggregation of features. The lectures will be supplemented by practical case studies and exercises which will provide the participants with enhanced hands-on experience in the assessment of novelty and inventive step. The exercises will focus on the application of the problem-solution approach.
- have the opportunity to discuss the cases and related topics with EPO experts while doing exercises as well as in the plenary sessions.
Venue details
European Patent Office, Munich
Contact
European Patent Academy
European Patent Office
Erhardtstr. 27
80469 Munich
GERMANY
Tel. +49-89-2399-5454
academy@epo.org
Max. number of participants
20
Reference
OS14-2012
Registration deadline
Deadline for registration is over.