Drafting & Amendment of European Patents : the Protection Conferred

Summary of the protection conferred

This 2-volume book extensively covers all aspects of drafting and amending European patents and applications.

Chapter 2 is devoted to “the protection conferred”, which is a relatively unexplored aspect compared to the requirements for patentability that form the essence of EPO decision-taking and that have received extensive consideration.

The protection conferred is a mix of national and European law whereas different claim types imply different degrees of protection. Maximizing protection involves choice of claim category and terminology, and capturing ancillary aspects.

It is essential for drafters to understand the protection conferred to complement their mastery of EPO practice on patentability.

Here is a Book review.

The 2-volume book is available here. You have to order each volume separately and the two will be sent together.

Book Review: Drafting & Amendment of European Patents, author Brian Cronin, review by Paul Rosenich

https://www.shopmybooks.com/BE/en/books?query=patent+drafting

This book review by Paul Rosenich is found at page 41 of epiinformation-2016-04.

Go to epiinformation-2016-04, with this link, go to "Read Issue 04" and download a pdf of the issue by clicking on the "pdf in a cloud" logo. Then browse to page 41.

You can purchase the two volumes from shopmybooks.com using this link and if necessary key in "patent drafting". You should purchase the two volumes separately and they will be sent together.

Best regards

Brian Cronin

PATSKILLS

Non-specialist Papers A and B of the EQE

From 2017, the drafting Paper A and the reply Paper B will be non-specialist papers for all candidates, replacing the former specialised electrical-mechanical and chemistry papers.

This change was dictated by the need to reduce the substantial cost of running the EQE, and met with much criticism (in my opinion largely unjustified) from many European Patent Attorneys.

The exam committees have issued mock Papers A and B with prototype examiners reports and the European Patent Academy has published a video in question and answer style which aims to answer any questions candidates may have about the new format.

Candidates are of course faced with accommodating to the new exam format and in this spirit I have prepared a YouTube presentation which aims to complement the official Q&A version.

Overall, I am convinced that candidates wishing to pass will need to pay great attention to the client’s instructions for the specific invention as this will influence the proper claim scope and, for Paper A, will dictate the need for one or more independent claims.

You can access the presentation by going to YouTube and keying in “EQE non-specialist”. There is a minor hiccup on slide 10 (repeated part) : just keep going!

Brian Cronin

PATSKILLS

Drafting & Amendment of European Patents

The second edition of my book Drafting & Amendment of European Patents is now available in two volumes, Volume 1 Generalities and Volume 2 Fundamentals.

Setting out to claim inventions with an aim to obtain broad protection that stands the test of time is like embarking on a quest for perfection where the breadth of protection is forever in competition with validity.

This book demystifies the quest and provides practitioners with insights as a basis for successfully drafting and amending European patents. There are numerous references to drafting for the European Qualifying Exam where the aim is to provide broad and valid protection.

It can be purchased from www.shopmybooks.com by keying in the words “patent drafting” or from the following link https://www.shopmybooks.com/BE/en/books?query=patent+drafting. You have to buy each volume individually and both will be sent together.

Brian Cronin

PATSKILLS

Waiting for the EQE results?

Waiting for the EQE results and the examiners reports?

In my opinion you should not worry how your answers compare with those of other bloggers. It’s best to forget about this year’s exam and pick it up when the results come in.

Meantime, continue working on papers you didn’t already sit and do some steady work on areas where you know you are in need of improvement.

If you’ve taken the pre-exam, the result will come in soon and, pass or fail, you should review your answers and correct where necessary, then in case of success, resume work in earnest on the main papers.

The moral is: don’t have an idle summer and start work until after you’ve discovered that you failed some papers. Keep working over the summer period so you continue to progress.

The tutorials “Approaching the EQE” and those on specific papers are ideal for continued learning. You can access the following tutorials on YouTube by keying in “EQE Cronin” :

Approaching the EQE :	EQE Pre-exam :
1st Approach Serving the Client	Legal Basics
2nd Approach Working Method	Claim Analysis 2014
3rd Approach Legal Thinking	Claim Analysis 2015
4th Approach Presenting Arguments
5th Approach Substantive Law
EQE Drafting Paper A 2014 :	EQE Reply Paper B 2013 :
Part 1 - Assimilation of information	Part 1 - Assimilation of information
Part 2 – Planning	Part 2 - Planning
Part 3 - The End Product	Part 3 - The End Product
EQE Opposition Paper C 2015 :	EQE Legal Opinion Paper DII 2015 :
Part 1 - Assimilation and Organisation of Information	Part 1 - Assimilating and Organising Information
Part 2 - Planning	Part 2 - Legal Consequences and Planning
Part 3 - The End Product	Part 3 - The Legal Opinion

I hope you will find these tutorials useful for your ongoing preparations and wish you a relaxed summer.

Brian Cronin

PATSKILLS