On 23 January 2023, the EPO Board of Appeal (the "BoA") handed down its decision in case T 0169/20 regarding a detergent container opposed on the grounds of lack of novelty and inventive step. The patentee argued that the claim could only be an interpretation of the inventive step derived from a particular phase supported by the description. The BoA rejected this interpretation and ruled that, according to the provisions of Article 84 of the European Patent Convention (the "EPC"), the description may be used as an aid in determining the subject matter of the claims, but only if it needs to be clarified and if the invention described corresponds to what is claimed, and cannot be used to alter the subject matter of the invention.
Originally published by April, 2023
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