Book Review - Drafting & Amendment of European Patents, Author: Brian Cronin
Paul Rosenich
Liechtenstein, Swiss and European Patent Attorney
Chairman of epi Disciplinary Committee
Comments welcomed: rosenich@rosenich.com
Brian Cronin is one of the early EQE trainers who did not only consider legal questions and practical aspects of the IP-work but also the psychological mechanisms of learning/teaching the exam situation and practical skills in writing exams. He is an excellent Tutor at CEIPI and Patskills.
Coming from industrial patent departments and working successfully as independent patent attorney in free practice during many decades he gained also an extensive knowledge of European Patent law and practice.
Just ready before the hot training period for EQE-candidates in Autumn 2016 and as a must for all practitioners, Patskills published the second edition of DRAFTING & AMENDMENT OF EUROPEAN PATENTS in two handy volumes printed from SHOP MY BOOKS. Both volumes have together more than 440 pages of easily legible Din A4 format text. The book fits perfectly into briefcases and computer back packs - at least when the volumes are taken separately.
Copies of the book can be purchased from the printer/binder www.shopmybooks.com when keying in the words "drafting patents". You have to purchase each volume separately and the two will be sent together.
Volume 1 of this book refers to generalities, where the reader may reflect questions about embarking on drafting, protection conferred, client considerations, influences of PCT and US-Patent law, drafting trends, claim interpretation and others. An extensive list of explanation of terms which are used on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean allows younger professionals to understand/translate terms like "free beer claims" and "could-would".
Volume 2 of this book refers to fundamentals and covers aspects that every drafter needs to understand as basis for successful drafting of European patents in an international environment. Here the book is astonishingly relevant, as it e.g. comments already about the Brexit-effect on the Unitary Patent.
Volume 2 covers further claim types, formats and sets and refers directly to the Guidelines for Examination at the EPO. Also the considerations to draft a good description find ample space on more than 30 pages.
Volume 2 also covers the various possibilities for making changes at different stages of the procedure before the EPO.
A list of topic headers in alphabetic order helps the reader to quickly find the relevant chapter.
A table of claims referred to by order of introduction and in alphabetical order and the sources of those claims is also useful, if someone wants to find a decision of the Boards of Appeal or reference to an EQE exam.
In the foreword for the 2nd volume Brian Cronin writes: "All drafters must master these fundamental requirements". I cannot do more than confirm that the profession of European Patent Attorneys has to act according to the epi Code of Conduct with professional competence which of course includes knowledge about the fundamentals of our practice and law.
Certainly, one can and has to at least study the EPC, the Case Law Book of the Boards of Appeal and the Guidelines for Examination. However, having Brian Cronin's book Drafting and Amendment of European Patents at hand provides a complement to the official materials presented from the drafter's viewpoint. This greatly facilitates the task to get into and understand the most important principles of our current European Patent System and Practice.
For the more experienced practitioners, it is a practical book to remember some basic principles even if they are not every day on one's desk. It further helps the senior patent attorneys to focus their training for EQE-candidates on the relevant questions and topics related to everyday drafting and to the exam.
I thank Brian Cronin for his work to provide this practical and highly relevant book.
