Prior Art
Channel: Rolf Claessen
Date: 2017-02-16

Prior Art – in this video I explain what prior art or state of the art means for patents
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How is prior art defined by the European Patent Office? I am Rolf Claessen, patent attorney with Michalski · Hüttermann & Partner, and in this video I explain what prior art state of the art means for patents. Prior art is everything made available to the public by means of a written or oral description, by use, or in any other way, before the date of filing of the European patent application. There are no restrictions whatever as to the geographical location where or the language or manner in which the relevant information was made available to the public; also no age limit is stipulated for the documents or other sources of the information.
Additionally, the content of European patent applications as filed, the dates of filing of which are prior to the priority date or filing date of the examined application and which were published on or after that date, shall be considered as comprised in the state of the art.
A special case is a prior public use. Let’s assume someone has filed a patent application for windmill with a particular shape of the blades of the windmill. And theses blades where publicly available e.g. on a publicly accessible parking-lot of the company that filed the patent application. Then this prior public exhibition if the windmill blades is prior art for assessing the patentability of the windmill patent application.
If the prior art document is in a language different from the three official languages of the European Patent Office (namely English, German, French), this document needs to be translated. If the translation is a machine translation, the machine translation can only be contested, if it can be shown to be obviously wrong of inconsistent.
The is an additional requirement of enabling disclosure. The European Patent Office writes in its Guidelines for Examination: subject-matter can only be regarded as having been made available to the public, and therefore as comprised in the state of the art pursuant to Art. 54(1), if the information given to the skilled person is sufficient to enable him, at the relevant date, to practise the technical teaching which is the subject of the disclosure, taking into account also the general knowledge at that time in the field to be expected of him (see T 26/85, T 206/83 and T 491/99).
An example: if there is a document in the prior art describing a spacecraft flying to a distant galaxy with warp drive without any further explanation, then this is not enabling disclosure and cannot be used against a patent protecting such warp drive.
I hope I was able to explain what prior art means for patents. If you are new to my channel and want to be informed about patents, trademarks and designs, please subscribe to my channel. If you like the video, please hit the like button. I am answering comments and questions below this video. And most importantly: protect your intellectual property and go make it count!



Stichworte: Rolf Claessen, Patentanwalt, Michalski · Hüttermann & Partner, Patent Attorney, Prior Art, 

Other useful websites:

IP Fridays - http://www.ipfridays.com (intellectual property podcast)

IP Newsflash - http://www.ipnewsflash.com (intellectual property news portal, free patent PDF download, free patent family search)


About Rolf Claessen

Rolf is patent attorney of IP boutique law firm Michalski · Hüttermann. The firm is managing about 4500 trademarks and 6500 patents and patent applications for mostly domestic medium sized clients in Germany in many technical fields.  


The focus of his practice is the prosecution of trademarks and patents and other intellectual property rights. His expertise in patent prosecution encompasses a deep understanding of patent law, prior art searches, prosecuting patent applications, patent drafting, opposition and defending against competitors. With the team at Michalski · Hüttermann, he strives to be the external IP department for many medium sized companies. 


Contact Rolf at

Dr. Rolf Claessen
Michalski · Hüttermann & Partner
Speditionstraße 21
D-40221 Düsseldorf
Germany

Telephone:  +49 211 159 249 0
Facsimile: +49 211 159 249 20
Email claessen@mhpatent.de

http://www.rolfclaessen.com


Legalese and Disclaimer

You have been watching a video by Rolf Claessen. The views expressed by the participants of this program are their own and do not represent the views of nor are they endorsed by their respective law firms.  None of the content should be considered legal advice.  This video should not be construed as legal advice or legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances.  The contents of this video are intended for general informational purposes only and you are urged to consult your own patent attorney on any specific legal questions. As always, consult a patent attorney.