R.44 EPC Unity of invention

(1)

Where a group of inventions is claimed in a European patent application, the requirement of unity of invention under Article 82 shall be fulfilled only when there is a technical relationship among those inventions involving one or more of the same or corresponding special technical features. The expression "special technical features" shall mean those features which define a contribution which each of the claimed inventions considered as a whole makes over the prior art.

(2)

The determination whether a group of inventions is so linked as to form a single general inventive concept shall be made without regard to whether the inventions are claimed in separate claims or as alternatives within a single claim.

Source: http://www.epo.org/law-practice/legal-texts/html/epc/2016/e/r44.html

Date retrieved: 17 May 2021

31 references found.

Click X to load a reference inside the current page, click on the title to open in a new page.

EPC Articles

X A.78 EPC Requirements of a European patent application

X A.82 EPC Unity of invention

EPC Implementing Rules

X Chapter II Provisions governing the application

EPO Guidelines - B Search

X GL B VIII 3.4 Applications to which Rule 63 applies which also lack unity

X GL B VIII 4.5 Applications to which Rule 62a applies which also lack unity

X GL B X 8 Restriction of the subject of the search

X GL B XI 5 Unity in relation to the search opinion

EPO Guidelines - F The European Patent Application

X GL F IV 3.1 Categories

X GL F V 1 Introduction

X GL F V 2 Requirement of unity of invention

X GL F V 3 Assessment of unity

X GL F V 3.2.1 Plurality of independent claims in the same category

X GL F V 3.2.2 Plurality of independent claims in different categories

X GL F V 3.2.5 Markush grouping (alternatives in a single claim)

X GL F V 3.2.7 Intermediate and final products

EPO PCT GL - F (not assigned)

X GL-PCT FOREWORD 3.1 Annex I: EPC-PCT concordance table

Offical Journal of the EPO

X OJ EPO SE 2/2021, p19 - II. PATENT APPLICATION AND AMENDMENTS

X OJ EPO 2012, 276 - Decision of the Legal Board of Appeal dated 1 August 2011 J 21/09 3.1.01

Case Law Book: II Conditions to be met by an Application

X CLR II B 1 Introduction

X CLR II B 2.1 Plurality of independent claims

X CLR II B 3.1 General approach – content of claims

X CLR II B 5.1 General

X CLR II B 5.2 Special technical features and inventive character of the single general concept

X CLR II B 5.3 Unity of single claims defining alternatives ("Markush claims")

Case Law Book: IV Divisional Applications

X CLR IV B 5.3.3 Subject-matter of amendment not combining with the originally claimed invention

Case Law of the Enlarged Board

X G 0001/11 (Non-refund of further search fees/BAUER) of 19.3.2014

General Case Law

X T 0840/07 (Immunomodulatory peptide/CELLACT PHARMA) of 14.9.2011

X T 1285/11 (Polymorphs/PFIZER) of 15.12.2011

X T 2482/12 (Optoelektronischer Sensor/SICK) of 21.9.2018

X T 0129/14 () of 17.9.2014

X T 0755/14 () of 21.5.2015