The Boards of Appeal at the European Patent Office finally seem to believe novelty in purity questions should be addressed by the golden standard for addressing novelty in other cases, thereby overthrowing the long outstanding special status of purity when facing prior art. In summary, in the decision T1085/13 and now with T0043/18 referring to T1085/13, the BoA seem to accept a new paradigm for assessing novelty in questions of purity, which aligns with the golden standard set out by G2/88 and G2/10. The question that remains is, when the Guidelines for Examination will be aligned with the view of the Boards of Appeal?

Read the full article by Johannes Wehner and Nikolaj Riis Christensen.