Report Joint Meeting EPPC and Biotech
On 13 March 2025, a joint hybrid meeting between the Biotechnology Committee (BC) and EPPC took place with many members of both committees in Krakow. The main topic of the meeting was the re-emergence of divisional applications. This topic had been discussed at the Administrative Council and its Committee on Patent Law. There was a lively discussion of all aspects from all points of view, and it was agreed that a note on possible contributions to the debate at the Administrative Council would be prepared.
There was also a discussion of the referral to the Enlarged Board on the rights of interveners (G2/23) and the way in which the EPO deals with quality.
It was also pointed out that the EPO wants to move towards a paperless patent granting process (PGP), which will require many changes to the Rules. The participants were requested to provide suggestions for necessary changes to the Rules.
On the following day, the committees met separately. EPCC had a lively discussion on many topics, including on the question of mistakes in the Rule 71(3) Communication and whether these could be made less likely as a result of the EPO’s move towards a paperless PGP. The Biotech Committee discussed the patenting of antibodies, sequence listings practice and the EU proposals on NGT plants and SPCs.
