Report of the Committee on Biotechnological inventions
A. De Clercq (BE), Chair
As announced in our report in epi information 1/2018, a delegation of our committee has met with the EPO Biotech Directors on 6 February 2018. The Minutes of said meeting are published in this issue of epi information.
Delegates of our committee have also been invited to a "User Life Science Groups - Liaison Meeting on 16 November 2018 with the corresponding boards of the Boards of Appeal of the EPO - 2018" with Mr Carl Josefsson, President of the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office. CIPA Life Science Committee and the UNION Lifescience Group have also been invited to participate in this common meeting with all boards dealing with "life science", i.e. 3.3.01 (chairman: Albert Lindner), 3.3.04 (chairwoman: Gabriele Alt) and 3.3.08. (chairman: Beat Stolz). We look forward to this meeting and are preparing topics to be discussed. For epi the attendants will be Ann De Clercq (Chair epi Biotech Committee), Chris Mercer (our liaison to EPPC and Chair of EPPC) and Heike Vogelsang-Wenke (associate member and liaison with epi Presidium and Vice-President epi).
Our committee is also preparing additional topics for its next committee meeting which is proposed for 11 September 2018 in Munich. We are already following up matters regarding the Nagoya Protocol, antibody patenting, plant patenting, noting where the Guidelines for Examination need further amendments on Biotech matters. Any other topics that come up for discussion related to Biotech or referred to it by EPPC or other channels, such as Biotech epi practitioners will also be taken up at our next meeting.
The meeting with the Biotech EPO Directors may from 2018 onwards be jointly organized with the meeting with the PAOC EPO Directors and EPPC. This is explained in the minutes of the meeting with the EPO.
The Biotech Committee welcomes any epi member wishing to become an associate member who has a solid background in biotech and wishes to contribute to ongoing discussions in biotech patent matters. An email can be sent to the Chair of Biotech or the epi Secretariat for applications.
