The European Patent Office is expediting opposition procedures for cases facing claims of infringement and/or revocation in order to reduce the burden on the Unified Patent Court (UPC), national courts and the European Patent Office:
“From now on, the EPO will expedite opposition proceedings when it becomes aware of pending infringement proceedings or revocation proceedings before the European Unified Patent Court or national courts / national authorities of a Member State.”
This accelerated processing is possible regardless of an explicit request and applies to European patents and unit patents . Actions for infringement or revocation relating to a European patent or a European patent with single national effect (a “unitary patent”) may be brought before the European Unified Patent Court or before the national courts or authorities of a Contracting State, in conjunction with opposition proceedings before the European Patent Office (” parallel ” Objection Procedure “) in parallel. In this context, the expeditious completion of parallel opposition proceedings at the European Patent Office helps to increase legal certainty and procedural efficiency, as well as to shape the high quality and uniformity of the European patent system.
Therefore, if the European Patent Court or the national court or competent authority of a contracting state informs the European Patent Office that an infringement or revocation action related to a European patent or a unitary patent has been filed, the European Patent Office will expedite the parallel opposition procedure.
In the case of an expedited parallel opposition procedure, the Opposition Handling Unit will make every effort to initiate the next procedure (e.g. letter, summons for hearing proceedings) within three months of receipt of such information or request from a party.
UK Patent Office: Expect more patent applications related to artificial intelligence
The UK made a ruling in the case of Emotional Perception AI Ltd.
Landmark ruling that artificial neural networks ( ANNs ) are not computer programs. This is a significant departure from the established practice of the UK Intellectual Property Office ( UKIPO ) and the European Patent Office ( EPO ), which previously examined any type of artificial intelligence ( AI ) related application as a computer-implemented invention ( Emotion Perception AI Ltd v Patents, Director of the Office of Designs and Trademarks, Case No. [2023] EWHC 2948(Ch) ).
For further information, please contact:
Andrew Hammond, Rouse
ahammond@rouse.com
