Germany, Novelty

(Krieger Mes Graf & v. der Groeben)/

The Court addresses the issue of potential contradictions between features in the generic part and in the characterizing part of a patent claim and the impact on claim construction. Such contradictions may not be resolved by leaving out the features of the generic part when the claim allows for a claim construction which is free…

Case Law, Germany, Procedure

(Krieger Mes Graf & v. der Groeben)/

The Supreme Court specifically addresses the issue of consideration of decisions issued in parallel cases before the European Patent Office or before national courts in EPC Member States and holds that such decisions may not be left unconsidered. A full summary of this case has been published on Kluwer IP Law.