The European patent office ‘Raising the Bar’ initiative

On April 1, 2010 a number of Rule changes to the European Patent Convention entered into force. At the same time, revised Guidelines for Examination were published to take account of these changes and to update the sections relating to inventive step. All these changes were introduced under the banner of "Raising the Bar". They can be divided into three categories - inventive step, procedural changes, and the filing requirements for divisional applications. This article aims to explain what the changes are and the reasons for them.

► EPO: ‘Raising the Bar’ initiative. ► Best practice on inventive step. ► Focussing the search. ► Examining amendments procedures. ► Voluntary and mandatory filing of divisional applications.