Report of the Harmonisation Committee
J. Brown (GB) Chair
Following the C92 Council meeting, a response was filed to the EPO Consultation on Substantive Patent Law Harmonisation (“SPLH”).
The EPO reported their findings, following the Consultation, to the Plenary Session of Group B+ on 21st September, 2022. The presentation to the Group B+ Plenary, together with the draft report prepared (Part I and Part II), were very interesting but have unfortunately not been published yet.
Our President and I attended the 34rd session of the Standing Committee on the Law of Patents, held at WIPO, Geneva, from 26th to 30th September 2022. Topics discussed included Exceptions and Limitations to Patent Rights (see especially SCP/34/3SCP documents are available on the WIPO website, which can be searched using the document number you wish to look at), a Sharing Session on patentability of inventions using artificial intelligence (AI) and by AI, Patents and Health (see SCP/34/6) and a Sharing Session focusing on cross-border aspects of confidentiality of communications between clients and their patent advisers. In this regard, I understand that the Swiss Patent Office made a presentation on this topic at the Plenary Session of Group B+ on 21st September 2022 but to date I have not seen what was presented.
