The Protocol to the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court on provisional application (PPA) has entered into force on 19 January 2022 following the deposit of the instrument of ratification by Austria. This event marks the start of the Provisional Application Period (PAP) and the birth of the Unified Patent...
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Kann ich mir den Schutz von Innovationen leisten?
Insbesondere kleinere Unternehmen stellen sich häufig die Frage, ob sie sich den Schutz ihres geistigen Eigentums leisten können. Neben vermeintlich hoher Kosten für die Erlangung gewerblicher Schutzrechte bestehen Bedenken vor hohen Folge-Kosten, beispielsweise im Falle einer Verletzung der eigenen Schutzrechte durch Dritte. Im folgenden Artikel möchten wir diese Bedenken aufgreifen...
Quantum Computing Innovations
Regular analyses of patent applications world wide show that quantum computing is one of the fastest growing technologies and governments are investing large sums of money. One prediction, dating from 2020, suggests that the quantum computing market could read USD 1 trillion by 2035. With such large sums being poured...
Europäischer Fonds unterstützt IP von kleinen und mittelständischen Unternehmen (KMU)
Die Europäische Kommission hat einen Fonds eingerichtet, der kleine und mittelständische Unternehmen mit Sitz in der EU dabei unterstützen soll Rechte in Bezug auf geistiges Eigentum (IP) zu erhalten und durchzusetzen. Darunter fallen zum Beispiel Patente, Marken und Gebrauchsmuster. Die Umsetzung des Fonds zeigt geringfügige Unterschiede von Land zu Land....
European Fund supporting IP for SMEs
The European Commission has implemented a fund to support European Union based small and medium-sized enterprises to obtain and exploit intellectual property rights, such as patents, trademarks and designs. The way the fund operates is slightly different from country to country. Generally, it provides support to SMEs of up to...
Artificial Intelligence Systems are not inventors in Europe
Shortly before Christmas, the European Patent Office’s Board of Appeal rejected an application to name an artificial intelligence system, Dabus, as an inventor on two patent applications EP 18 275 163 and EP 18 275 174. The full details of the decision have not emerged, but a brief press release gives some details of the case. The two...
A “Grace Period” for European Patents?
The European Patent Office has started a study to see whether a so-called "grace period" should be introduced into the European Patent system. Currently, the novelty requirement under the European Patent Convention (EPC) set out in Article 54 is an absolute novelty standard under which any disclosure made by the...
Developing a Patent Strategy
Developing a patent strategy - as part of a broader company strategy for protection intellectual property - should be an important component of the company's business plan. Experience shows, however, that for many companies the patent strategy is done "on the fly" and reactive, rather than executing a defined comprehensive...
Patenting an Artificial Intelligence Invention – guidance from the US Patent Office
In 2019, the US Patent and Trademark Office drafted detailed guidance for the patent software invention. The 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance included one example (no 39) which was directed towards a method for training a neural network for facial detection. The example was very simple - the...
Austria approves ratification of Unified Patent Court
The Austrian Bundesrat (the upper legislative chamber in the Austrian Parliament) did not object on 2 December to the decision of the Nationalrat (lower Chamber of the Austrian Parliament) regarding the Protocol to the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court on Provisional Application (PPA). As reported earlier, the Nationalrat has already decided in favour of the ratification...