Article
EPO Enlarged Board Clarifies: Publicly Available Products Are Prior Art, Even If Irreproducible
The European Patent Office's Enlarged Board has fundamentally altered the landscape of prior art assessment, establishing that products made publicly available before a patent filing date constitute prior art regardless of whether they can be analyzed or reproduced. This landmark decision removes the long-standing reproducibility requirement, making market availability alone sufficient to destroy novelty and significantly raising the stakes for timely patent filings.
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