EPO – The Technical Board of Appeal of the EPO has decided that claims directed to a computer program product or to a computer program are allowable if the program, when running on a computer or loaded into a computer, is capable of bringing a technical effect which goes beyond the “normal” physical interaction between the program (software) and the computer (hardware) on which it runs.
Landmark Decision No. G0004/97
EPO – The Enlarged Board of Appeal of the EPO has decided that an opposition is not inadmissible purely because the person named as opponent according to Rule 55(a) EPC is acting on behalf of a third party. The opposition is however inadmissible if the involvement of the opponent is to be regarded as circumventing the law by abuse of process. A circumvention of the law by abuse of process does not arise purely because a professional representative is acting in his own name on behalf of a client or an opponent having residence or principal place of business in one of the EPC states or is acting on behalf of a third party who does not meet this requirement.
Madrid Protocol
Turkey is a new member of the Madrid Protocol.