Fee increase of the European Patent Office as of 1 April 2024
The European Patent Office will increase most of its fees by an average of around 5% as of 1 April 2024. The fee increase will be significantly higher for the 3rd and 4th renewal fees, which will rise by almost 30%.
Comparison of opposition proceedings at the EPO and revocation actions at the UPC – advantages and disadvantages
Since the introduction of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) in June 2023, a new system for central attacking the validity of and thereby to nullify a European Patent has been introduced. If a European patent of concern is an EU Unitary Patent, or if a classically validated European patent was not opted out from the competence of the UPC, a central revocation action under the UPC now exists in parallel to an opposition before the European Patent Office (EPO). Therefore, the question arises: what are the pros and cons of challenging the validity either before the EPO or before the UPC? The present report provides some guidance and discusses the main advantages and disadvantages of each system – which eventually is a matter of strategic considerations whether and which advantage may prevail – be it costs, timing, speed of proceedings, and possibly other issues.
We were deeply shocked to learn of the devastating earthquake in Japan and would like to express our sincere condolences to the victims of this earthquake. In these difficult times, we would like to express our deepest sympathy to you and your fellow human beings.
Abolition of the 10-day notification fiction at the European Patent Office
In view of the digital age, in which documents will only be served electronically in the future, the European Patent Office will abolish its so-called 10-day fiction of service, which previously governed the calculation of time limits, as of November 1, 2023.
Dr Dorothea Hofer has obtained the European Patent Litigation Certificate
We are delighted to announce that our managing partner Dr. Dorothea Hofer has obtained the European Patent Litigation Certificate issued by the University of Maastricht in cooperation with the Academy of European Law (ERA) in Trier. This includes an extensive practical and theoretical training in the law underlying the Unified Patent Court (#UPC) and related fields of European law so that she is well prepared for representing clients in all proceedings before the Unified Patent Court.
Prüfer & Partner recognized in IAM Patent 1000 2023 für Patent Prosecution and Nullity
We are pleased to share that our firm Prüfer & Partner together with four of our intellectual property attorneys have been recognized for their outstanding work in patent prosecution and nullity in the newly published 2023 Edition of iam Patent 1000, one of the world’s leading rankings with regard to patent services providers.
Prüfer Experts Listed as Best Lawyers of the Year 2023 by Handelsblatt
We are very pleased that our patent attorneys Dr. Dorothea Hofer, Mr. Jürgen Feldmeier as well as Dr. Andreas Oser are listed as beste Anwälte des Jahres 2023 (best attorneys of the year 2023) in the ranking published by Handelsblatt on June 16, 2023.
PRÜFER & PARTNER is ranked again in “The Legal 500 – Germany 2023”
Prüfer & Partner mbB Patent- und Rechtsanwälte is again recognised for its outstanding performance in the current ranking of “The Legal 500 – Germany”. The firm is recommended in the areas of “Patent Law: Patent Attorneys: Patent Prosecution” and “Patent Law: Patent Attorneys: Litigation” and is thus listed among the best IP law firms in Germany.
