A patent can be a very important asset for a company. However, the path to obtaining one is often challenging. Only inventions that are completely new and demonstrate an inventive step are granted a patent. Therefore, the key criteria for patent grant are novelty and inventive step.
The justification of the inventive step regularly determines the outcome of the examination proceedings before the patent offices-the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) and the European Patent Office (EPO)-and in contentious cases before the Federal Patent Court (BPatG).
Consequently, the criterion of inventive step deserves the utmost attention. This specialized book provides readers with the legal know-how necessary to successfully justify the inventive step of their invention in proceedings before the DPMA, the EPO, and the BPatG, or to effectively challenge a third party&s patent in litigation.
