Revised EPO Guidelines offer little guidance on description amendments

Following a recent decision Board of Appeal decision (T 1989/18), which failed to find any legal basis for the EPO requirement to amend the description of a patent application in line with the claims, many were hopeful that the new version of the EPO Guidelines would act to clarify the situation.

Sadly, as reported by the IPKat website, this does not appear to be the case. The new Guidelines, due to come into force in March 2022, maintain the requirements introduced in the 2021 Guidelines, with only minor changes to the existing wording.

Since the thorough revision of the description currently required by the EPO is time-consuming, and therefore increases costs to Applicants, it is somewhat disappointing that further changes to or clarification of the Guidelines are not forthcoming.

On a more positive note, the EPO is running a consultation on the Guidelines, which will close on 15 April 2022. If you have strong views on the subject, be sure to submit them prior to the deadline.