On 21.02.24, a meeting of the members of the IP Commercialization Committee (IPCC), a body of the European Patent Institute (epi), was held in Munich. The committee consists of ten members, experts in the field. The committee was chaired by Hans Blöche, and Prof. Dr. Gjorgi Filipov. After the introductory points and the election of the Secretary of the Committee (Anders Isaksson), work was started on points related to some proposals of the European Commission, located in the so-called EU patent package, which provides for some patent functions in the European intellectual property office (EUIPO), which is a bit of a surprise and which the IPCC views with reservations. Questions from EPO practices were also discussed regarding assignment as one of the ways to commercialize IP, regarding the possible new directive on compulsory licenses in the field of pharmaceutical patents, as well as the advisory support provided by epi members to micro- companies (companies with annual income <2 million euros). The EU directive on corporate sustainability was also discussed, as well as the participation of IPCC members in the training of European representatives in the area of commercialization of patents. In his presentations, Filipov spoke about the methods of monetization and commercialization, about the evaluation of patent applications and about the necessity of respecting the provisions of the Paris Convention when granting licenses, assignments and in general during the transfer of technology, taking into account the readiness of the licensee to retain the quality of the product or service offered by the IP right holder. The president of epi, Peter Thomsen, also participated online in the work of the Committee.
The session of the European Patent Practice Committee (EPPC) lasted for three days (27-29.24) and contained three sessions: 1. Preparatory session, in which the members of the EPPC discussed in detail the points of the agenda for the meeting with the vice-president of the European Patent office, Steve Rowan and members of his delegation (seven other directors); 2. Plenary session with Steve Rowan and the delegation (about 130 participants, hybrid, onsite and online), holding two break-out sessions with members of the working groups for mechanics and ICT and for the biopharmacy and chemistry group; and 3. Break-out meeting announcements and conclusions for each item on the agenda. From the ERRS it was chaired by Christopher Mercer, and from the EPO, Steve Rowan, and then Razik Menindjel. In his welcoming speech, Rowan referred to the priorities of the EPZ for 2024, the nationalities of the patent examiners, the work of the Permanent Advisory Committee of the EPO (SACERO), the quality, the cooperation with SOIS and PCT, the total number of applications, the searches made and examinations, as well as for the number of granted patents, the need for amendments to the regulations for the description of inventions, for the examination department and the involvement of examiners, as well as for small and medium-sized enterprises and the benefits when filing patent applications. On behalf of the other members of the EPZ delegation, Emma Donaban spoke about the Quality Action Plan in 2024, Niclas Moray about complaints in 2023, about time positions during search, examination and opposition, Anne Redijk about the office of the ombudsman, as well as about additional searches , the correct citations of relevant texts and the non-examination of certain dependent patent claims, Heli Pillayama for speeding up opposition proceedings in a case of a Union patent in parallel court proceedings. During the breakout session on Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals, which was chaired by Martin Wilming, there was talk about the cooperation of the US Patent and Trademark Office with the Food and Drug Administration, clinical trials of patents, medical and non-medical applications of products. , as well as the patenting of new types of plants, while the break-out session for Chemistry, Mechanics and ICT discussed the parameters and methods of measurement, the big gap in the protection of inventions in the field of artificial intelligence and the problems and solutions in patent cases in information and communication technology.
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In the work of the plenary session and the breakout session for biotechnology and pharmaceutical chemistry, Dr. Filipov actively participated, as the representative of MK in EPPS, who in several discussions: a) emphasized that he is still looking for a definition or a shorter publication of what is meant by the quality of work of a patent office (in this case, the European Patent Office) and gave a proposal on how to find a solution to that dilemma, b) asked for a wider elaboration on the cooperation of the European Patent Office within the framework of the big five offices in the world (USPTO, CIPPA, JPO, KIPO & EPO), c) asked to overcome the problems with the writing of sequence lists in pharmaceutical inventions and proposed measures to be done in the transitional period of adaptation to the new standard and d) the emphasized the issue of the use of the EPO Smart Card for identification and the possibility of two-factor authentication through the EPO mailbox, not forgetting the insistence of the Unified Patent Court.
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