Today, the European Publication Server reached a new milestone as the EPO published EP 4 000 000. The application from L'Oréal, one of the top ten French applicants in the 2021 Patent Index, concerns an image recognition method in which artificial intelligence (AI) is trained to recognise skin tone, helping customers match their skin tone to cosmetic products. 

EP 4 000 000 is just one of a growing number of applications involving fourth industrial revolution (4IR) technologies, a trend observed in several EPO Chief Economist Unit studies. Over the past decade, 4IR innovation such as AI has also spread into domains that are not traditionally regarded as digital, for example, the cosmetics sector. 

Reflect on the past, focus on the future

Based on an Administrative Council decision, the EPO discontinued the paper publication of European patent documents in 2005 and began publishing only online in its official platform, the European Publication Server. Each Wednesday at 14.00 hrs, European documents are published and then cascaded through the EPO's patent knowledge services, either as bulk data, or in online search services such as the European Patent Register, the EP Bulletin search or EP full-text search. Additionally, the EPO publishes worldwide patent data through its online services including Global Index, PATSTAT and Espacenet. Currently, Espacenet holds over 130 million published patent documents and tracks the history of inventions and technical developments since 1782.

The EPO is finalising the implementation of its Strategic Plan (SP2023) in which patent information and patent knowledge feature prominently. Through several projects and co-operation activities, the EPO is enhancing access to patent information and ensuring that its technical records are complete, accurate and effectively managed. This includes the development of new tools and training services to help users understand and exploit patent information.

(25 May 2022 From EPO Website)

Nationals and residents of the People's Republic of China can continue to select the European Patent Office as their International Searching Authority (ISA) for their international patent applications filed in English under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). Following the agreement between the EPO and the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), the pilot will be extended by one additional year until 30 November 2023 and up to a further 3000 applications.

This decision is based on the positive evaluation of the pilot which has been running since 1 December 2020. Interest in this pilot has been remarkable with active participation from over 270 applicants - including universities, research institutes and private individuals. In particular, both local and international companies based in China showed a strong interest in obtaining timely patent protection in Europe. By having their international searches carried out by the EPO, pilot participants benefit from both more legal certainty prior to entering the European phase and faster prosecution of their Euro‑PCT applications.

The pilot also enables PCT applicants who are nationals or residents of the People's Republic of China and whose international search was performed by the EPO as ISA to file a request for international preliminary examination with the EPO.

CNIPA Commissioner Dr Shen Changyu commented: "The pilot has been widely participated since its launch and provides  convenience for applicants in acquiring IP protection in Europe. The extension of the pilot is one of the important fruits of the comprehensive strategic cooperation between the CNIPA and the EPO. We look forward to the continuous improvement of the pilot in the future, and better serving the IP application and protection for users. "

EPO President António Campinos greeted this development, stating, "This pilot is another tangible result of our strategic cooperation with CNIPA and it gives a useful alternative to all PCT applicants in China who are interested in the European market. We welcome the extension of this pilot as it will create more time and opportunities for users to evaluate the expected benefits in the examination phase before the EPO."

(16 September 2022 From EPO Website)

2022年7月20日，美国专利商标局（USPTO）和世界知识产权组织（WIPO）达成了一致意见，将共同努力以促进与标准必要专利（SEP）相关的争议的解决。

SEP是已宣告的对给定的技术标准必不可少的专利。作为标准制定过程的一部分，专利所有人可能同意以公平、合理和非歧视性（FRAND）条款许可SEP。标准通常涉及现代生活的各个方面，包括视频压缩、无线通信技术、计算机连接标准、汽车技术等。

美国商务部负责知识产权事务的副部长兼USPTO局长凯瑟琳．维达尔（Kathi Vidal）称：“国际标准以及对其至关重要的专利在增强国家实力和促进全球经济发展方面发挥着重要作用。我们非常感谢WIPO总干事能够认可我局在推动SEP政策讨论方面所作出的努力。USPTO与WIPO的合作也突出强调了我局秉持的观点，即SEP政策的制定是一个具有国际重要性的问题。USPTO和WIPO达成的协议将利用双方的现有资源，支持那些能够提高SEP许可效率的举措，并协助解决与这些标准相关的争议。”

近日，在参加于瑞士日内瓦举行的WIPO成员国大会期间，维达尔与WIPO总干事邓鸿森（Daren Tang）举行了一次会谈，并签署了一份谅解备忘录。

根据备忘录条款，USPTO和WIPO将在以下方面进行合作：

－通过利用现有的WIPO仲裁和调解中心和USPTO的各种资源，就能够提高有争议的SEP问题解决的效率和效力的活动进行合作；

－参与利益相关方的外展活动，通过USPTO-WIPO联合项目增进各方对WIPO仲裁和调解中心提供的服务的了解。

该协议自签署之日起将5年有效。

维达尔表示：“我们要对总干事和WIPO在这一重要领域所做的所有工作致以谢意。我们希望能够成功地实现合作，也期待着利益相关者的参与，以确保我们可以制定出争议的解决方案，这将会促进包括中小企业在内的所有创新者的参与及其对标准的执行。”

邓鸿森指出：“替代性争议解决机制（ADR）一次又一次地证明了其在高效、及时解决商业纠纷方面的价值。在过去几年中，WIPO仲裁和调解中心一直致力于促进SEP相关争议的解决，与USPTO的新合作是令人振奋的新进展，这将有助于提高标准实施的效率。”

（来源：中国保护知识产权网）

The heads of the world's five largest intellectual property offices (IP5) met virtually today for their 15th annual meeting. The focus of this year's meeting, hosted by the EPO, was to introduce sustainability in the IP5 agendas and enhance the patent system to better support innovators globally.

President Campinos chaired the meeting, which was attended by JPO Commissioner Mori Kiyoshi, KIPO Commissioner Lee Insil, CNIPA Commissioner Shen Changyu, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and USPTO Director Kathi Vidal, and WIPO Deputy Director General Lisa Jorgenson.

Topics discussed included the results of co-operation during the past year. Among the highlights was the implementation of a global alerting system by the EPO, covering patent prosecution changes in all five offices. The preparations made for implementing the IP5 NET/AI Roadmap were also reviewed. The aim of this Roadmap is to optimise internal processes at the IP5 through the use of new emerging technologies and artificial intelligence, as well as enhance legal certainty and transparency in applicable patent practices.

Further topics of discussion included the latest developments in the priority areas of global assignment and of allowable features in drawings, where the publication of the "IP5 safe format" was noted as a milestone. There was also an update on measures to further optimise the operational efficiency of IP5 co-operation and streamline approval and decision-making processes.

Finally, a preliminary evaluation was presented of the pilot project on IP5 PCT Collaborative Search & Examination, along with details of the extension of the evaluation phase.

In terms of outcomes, the IP5 offices agreed to revisit the IP5 vision to accommodate sustainability and will consider the establishment of an IP5 sustainability task force, to co-ordinate actions on this important agenda.

Celebrating 10 years of co-operation between the IP5 offices and IP5 Industry

Today's proceedings followed the meeting on 8 June between the heads of office and industry representatives from the IP5 regions. Participants celebrated a decade of industry involvement and exchanged views on the impact of IP and its role in promoting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Focusing on innovative solutions and industry efforts in the field of affordable and clean energy (SDGs 7 and 9), the offices and industry highlighted the potential of IP in addressing global socio-economic challenges. Participants agreed to strengthen their partnership towards a sustainable future (SDG 17).

This will further grow the tradition of co-operation that began to emerge when the first meeting of this kind took place in June 2012. Participants in Wednesday's proceedings underlined how, during the last decade, IP5 Industry meetings have helped ensure that applicants' views are heard, and that joint IP5 projects and initiatives are user-driven. Users' expectations for the future focus of IP5 initiatives were also discussed.

To mark the occasion, a commemorative video was released, highlighting the main achievements of the past ten years. The video complemented a joint statement that noted concrete user benefits in the fields of patent classification, IT, work-sharing and quality, patent practice alignment and statistics.

Representatives were present from: the American Intellectual Property Law Association; BusinessEurope; the Intellectual Property Owners Association, the Japan Intellectual Property Association; the Korea Intellectual Property Association; and the Patent Protection Association of China.

The next IP5 heads of office meeting will be hosted by the USPTO in 2023.

The Legal Board of Appeal of the EPO has issued in writing its decision in case J 8/20, which confirmed that under the European Patent Convention (EPC) an inventor designated in a patent application must be a human being. The decision, announced after hearing the appellant in public oral proceedings on 21 December 2021, concerned the rejection of two European patent applications in which an artificial intelligence system called DABUS was designated as inventor.

The European Patent Office has taken note of the written decisions published by the Boards of Appeal today and welcomes the clarification on the topic of AI named as inventor.

A recent expert workshop held on 23 June 2022 has confirmed the EPO practice whereby the description in a patent application must be made consistent with its amended claims (in accordance with Article 84 EPC) to ensure legal certainty and avoid the public being presented with information that conflicts with the wording of the claims. This was the conclusion reached by user representatives, members of the Boards of Appeal and national judges as well as experienced EPO examiners and lawyers who met to discuss the legal and practical aspects of adaptation of the description. The practice explained in the 2022 edition of the Guidelines for Examination was compared against the recent case law. Parallel breakout sessions were held on challenges and best practices when adapting the description in different technical areas.

Article 84 EPC requires that the claims be supported by the description. This means that any inconsistencies between the claims and those parts of the description disclosing ways to carry out the invention need to be removed, as expressed in the 2022 decisions T 1024/18, T 121/20, T 2293/18, T 2766/17 and T 1516/20.

This understanding of Article 84 EPC is in line with the standard of claim interpretation for national proceedings enshrined in Article 69(1) EPC, which requires that the description also be taken into account when interpreting the claims. Diverging interpretations of the scope of the claims can be avoided if inconsistent information contained in the description or drawings is already removed in the proceedings before the EPO. Thus, the support requirement of Article 84 EPC also serves the aim of ensuring legal certainty for national post-grant proceedings.

The findings from this workshop will be used to revise the relevant sections of the Guidelines, for example, to provide a better definition of what should be considered inconsistent, conflicting or contradictory or to insert illustrative examples. The revised text will be prepared in consultation with the SACEPO Working Party on the Guidelines.

The EPO will continue to monitor developments in the case law on adaptation of the description as well as on the sub-topic of claim-like clauses.

（from EPO Website）