News and Publications

EPO Appeal case establishes that requests to delete dependent claims late in the proceedings can be inadmissible

The EPO Boards of Appeal are well known to take a strict approach to admissibility of new requests filed late in the appeal proceedings, but generally permit deletion of invalid dependent claims....

EPO Board of Appeal holds that synergy is not sufficient to establish inventive step

At the EPO, the presence of a synergistic technical effect is normally indicative of an inventive step. But following the advocacy of Hoffmann Eitle’s James Ogle and Joachim Renken, the EPO Board...

FCJ holds that the technical problem for a medical use claim is not simply providing a new medical use of the known drug

Many cases turn on the exact formulation of the technical problem to be solved when assessing inventive step. In X ZR 92/23, Hoffmann Eitle attorneys Peter Klusmann, Jan Carl Zillies, Dirk Schüßler...

WTR 1000 Rankings 2025

WTR 1000, the leading global guide to trademark firms and professionals, has released its 2025 rankings, and we’re pleased to share that HOFFMANN EITLE has been recognized as a Bronze firm for the...

EPO appeal case T 943/22 clarifies procedural limitations in EPO Appeals following opponent withdrawal

In T943/22, the EPO Boards of Appeal has clarified the scope of appeal review in cases where all opponents withdraw their oppositions during proceedings. This is an interesting case in which HOFFMA...

Opposition Division members can be exchanged following telephone conversations concerning divisional applications

It is very unusual for the EPO Opposition Divisions (ODs) to agree to replace one of their members due to the appearance of partiality. Yet exactly this happened in the Opposition against EP 336806...

KSVR (Düsseldorf) and HOFFMANN EITLE join forces

We are very pleased to announce that the Düsseldorf office of the law firm “KSVR” (König - Szynka - Tilmann - von Renesse) and HOFFMANN EITLE PartmbB will join forces as of 1 February 2025. KSVR an...

HOFFMANN EITLE announces newest members to the partnership and key promotion

As of January 2025, we are happy to welcome three new members to the partnership: Stephan Klaus, Kei Enomoto, and David Miller. These individuals have made significant contributions to the firm ove...

HOFFMANN EITLE colleagues who have successfully qualified as an attorney at a national level

We are very proud to announce the HOFFMANN EITLE colleagues who have successfully qualified as an attorney at a national level in 2024. Congratulations go to the newly qualified German Patent Atto...

HOFFMANN EITLE Quarterly Newsletter 12/24

Dear Colleagues and Friends, In this issue of the Hoffmann Eitle Quarterly, we cover a range of compelling topics. Our first article explores the complexities of inventorship for AI-assisted/gener...