GL F III 10 Sufficiency of disclosure and Rule 56

Under Rule 56, missing parts may be withdrawn in order to maintain the original filing date, and these parts are then deemed to be no longer part of the application (see also A‑II, 5.4.2 and 5.5, C‑III, 1, and H‑IV, 2.2.2).

In this case, the division must carefully evaluate wheth

GL F III 9 "Reach-through" claims

In certain technical areas (e.g. biotechnology, pharmacy) cases occur where:

(i)one of the following and its use in a screening method have been defined as the only contribution to the art

– a polypeptide

–

GL F III 8 Reference documents

References in European patent applications to other documents may relate either to the background art or to part of the disclosure of the invention.

Where the reference document relates to the background art, it may be in the application as originally filed or introduced at a later date (see F‑II, 4.3 and 4.4, and H‑IV, 2.2.6).

Where t

GL F III 7 Proper names, trade marks and trade names

The use of proper names, trade marks or trade names or similar words to refer to materials or articles is undesirable in so far as such words merely denote origin or where they may relate to a range of different products. If such a word is used, then, where it is necessary in order to satisfy the requirements of Art. 83, the product must be sufficiently identified, without reliance upon the word, to enable the invention to be carried out by the skilled person at the date of filing.

GL F III 6.5 Euro-PCT cases

International applications relating to the aforementioned unavailable biological material and designating or electing the EPO must comply with Rule 13bis PCT in conjunction with Rule 31.

GL F III 6.4 Priority claim

An application may claim the priority of a previous application with regard to unavailable biological material mentioned in F‑III, 6.1. In this case, the invention is considered disclosed in the previous application for the purpose of the priority claim under Art. 87(1) only if the deposit of the biological material was made no later than the date of filing of the previous application and in accordance with the requirements of the country in which it was filed.

GL F III 6.3 Deposit of biological material

If the biological material is not available to the public and if it cannot be described in the application in such a manner as to enable the invention to be carried out by a person skilled in the art, the division must check:

(i)whether the application as filed gives such relevant information as is available to the applicant on the characteristics of the biological material.

GL F III 6.2 Public availability of biological material

The division must form an opinion as to whether or not the biological material is available to the public. There are several possibilities.

GL F III 6.1 Biological material

Applications relating to biological material are subject to the special provisions set out in Rule 31. In accordance with Rule 26(3), the term "biological material" means any material containing genetic information and capable of reproducing itself or being reproduced in a biological system.