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The European Patent Office (EPO) has marked the first anniversary of the unitary patent system, which began on June 1, 2023. Over the past year, the EPO registered more than 27,500 unitary patents, accounting for about 25% of all European patents granted in that time. The Unified Patent Court (UPC), which also began operations a year ago, has handled 373 cases, though technical problems have posed challenges.
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On March 18, 2024, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has taken a step towards clearer patent records by issuing a memorandum to examiners on the importance of consistent analysis for "means-plus-function" and "step-plus-function" limitations. This clarifies what inventors need to include in their applications to secure broader patent protection.
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The EPO unveiled the 'Deep Tech Finder' in October of last year. This free and online tool allows deep tech companies, researchers, and investors to easily discover European startups that have filed patent applications with the European Patent Office (EPO) and are ripe for investment. The focus of this tool is on companies with significant potential to introduce groundbreaking technologies to the European market.
As of May 2024, there are 8320 startups in the database, categorized into more than thirty industry segments and over fifty technology fields.
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On 5 May 2024, the USPTO proposes to amend the rules of practice to add a new requirement for an acceptable terminal disclaimer that is filed to obviate nonstatutory double patenting.
The proposed rule change would require terminal disclaimers filed to obviate nonstatutory double patenting to include an agreement by the disclaimant that the patent in which the terminal disclaimer is filed will be enforceable only if the patent is not tied to a patent by one or more terminal disclaimers involved.
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The European Patent Office (EPO) held a meeting of the SACEPO Working Party on Guidelines on April 25, 2024. SACEPO means a Standing Advisory Committee before the EPO. The newly appointed members discussed feedback from a public consultation on the EPC and PCT-EPO Guidelines, including suggestions for the upcoming Unitary Patent (UP) Guidelines.
The consultation gathered 168 comments on the EPC Guidelines and 23 on the PCT-EPO Guidelines. Discussions covered various topics, such as handling AI and computer-related inventions, third-party observations, and expediting patent approvals.
