New questions have been referred to the EPO Enlarged Board of Appeal by Technical Board of Appeal 3.2.01, specifically on the issue of claim interpretation.
The questions raised in this new pending referral, G1/24, are as follows:
1. Is Article 69(1), second sentence EPC and Article 1 of the Protocol on the Interpretation of Article 69 EPC to be applied on the interpretation of patent claims when assessing the patentability of an invention under Articles 52 to 57 EPC?
2. May the description and figures be consulted when interpreting the claims to assess patentability and, if so, may this be done generally or only if the person skilled in the art finds a claim to be unclear or ambiguous when read in isolation?
3. May a definition or similar information on a term used in the claims which is explicitly given in the description be disregarded when interpreting the claims to assess patentability and, if so, under what conditions?
The referring case can be reviewed here.
The EPO Board of Appeal press release can be found here.
