Section H IV 2.2 defining the basic principle of allowability of amendments under Art. 123(2) EPC, i.e. the content of the documents of originally filed, has been amended as follows:
Under Art. 123(2), it is impermissible to add to a European application subject-matter which the skilled person cannot derive directly and unambiguously, using common general knowledge,Hence, the use of common general knowledge has been added. It is true that EPO examiners (or opponents) sometimes forgot that the person skilled in the art does not switch off his common general knowledge when reading patent documents and this blogger appreciates this clarification.is not directly and unambiguously derivablefrom the disclosure of the invention as filed.
Did any of our readers find other points of practical interest in the amendments? PatLit would be pleased to share your observations.
Michael Thesen
