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Author Archives: Dr. Dirk Franke
End of month, anniversary, or something else entirely? Due dates for national renewal fees across the EPC states
As long as the European application is pending before the EPO, a single clear rule applies. On grant, that clarity fragments into 39 national regimes — and they diverge on precisely the point most easily overlooked in docketing: the due … Continue reading
Posted in European Law, International Law, Patent Law
Tagged Annuity fees, due dates, Europe, validations
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The “Black Hole”: Why the German Priority Document Remains a Legal Risk at the EPO
Anyone filing a European patent application that claims a German priority must supply the priority document — yet receives no confirmation from the EPO that it has arrived and been accepted. Since the DPMA joined WIPO DAS there has been … Continue reading
Posted in European Law, Patent Law
Tagged EPO, European patent application, priority
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Pressure to Register and Open Data Floodgates: WIPO’s Questionable Communication Practice
Anyone filing an international patent application (PCT) today is soon pushed to register in WIPO’s system – and finds their inbox filling up with dubious payment demands. Neither is a coincidence; both are the result of a policy that consistently … Continue reading
Patent Protection in the Netherlands: The Registration Patent, the PCT Gap, and a Reform on the Horizon
The Netherlands occupies a special position in European patent law that many applicants only discover once they actually have to work with it: a Dutch national patent is, to this day, granted without any substantive examination of novelty or inventive … Continue reading
Can Relevant Prior Art Be “Hidden” Behind the Closest Prior Art?
Under EPC patent law, can more relevant — in particular, technically closer — prior art be “hidden” by instead relying on a different document with a similar purpose as the closest prior art (CPA)? The question is sharpened by the … Continue reading
The Quiet Cost Creep: How the EPO Has Multiplied Its Fees, Step by Step, in Recent Years
When the European Patent Office (EPO) announces a fee increase, the headline number is usually reassuring: “an average of 4%”, “around 5%”. These percentages are technically correct — and still misleading. They describe the mean across a fee schedule with … Continue reading
Posted in European Law, Patent Law
Tagged Cost Increase, EPO, European patent application, European patent office, Official Fees
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When the Description Reads Along: G 1/24, AI-Assisted Drafting, and the Firm’s New Liability Risk
For decades, the description was the quiet part of a patent application. The music played in the claims; the description supplied background, embodiments, and fallback positions. As long as the claims were clear on their own, the exact wording of … Continue reading
Posted in European Law, Patent Law
Tagged AI, description adaptation, EPO, European Law. Tagged: G 1/24, patent law
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No Property, No Innovation: Why Socialist Patent Systems Forfeit Prosperity – The USSR, the GDR and Cuba
A patent grants its holder the right to exclude others from using an invention. At first glance this looks anti-social — yet it is one of the most effective engines of prosperity that modern economies possess. It turns an idea … Continue reading
Posted in International Law, Patent Law, Start-up Business Consulting
Tagged incentives, patent system, socialism
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Who Survives AI? Partners, Associates and Freelance Patent Attorneys in a Shifting Firm Structure
The debate about Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the patent profession usually focuses on the firm as a whole: falling drafting fees, consolidation pressure, and competition that hands the efficiency gains to clients. In our post “When the Patent Office Becomes … Continue reading
Posted in Employee, Patent Law, Start-up Business Consulting
Tagged AI, freelancer, partner, patent attorney
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When the Patent Office Costs More Than the Attorney: Two Scenarios for the Future of the IP Industry in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
The Quiet Reversal of the Cost Structure For decades, an unspoken rule of thumb governed the patent world: the office is cheap, the attorney is expensive. Anyone looking to reduce the cost of a patent filing turned the attorney screw … Continue reading
Posted in European Law, International Law, Patent Law
Tagged AI, artificial intelligence, cost reduction, IP business
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