Recent European Patent Office Guidance of Patent Claim Interpretation in Assessing Patentability

In our SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, October, 27 2025 we will discuss a recent decision whereby the European Patent Office ellucidates on the extent to which the description and drawings may guide patentability within the claims. Traditionally, the European Patent Office has been quite strict, but in a decision re Yunnan Tobacco Int’l. Co., Ltd. v. Philip Morris Products S.A., Enlg’d Board of Appeal, Case No. G0001/24 (June 18, 2025) the EPO explained that the claims are only the starting point and that one of skill in the art would look to the description and drawings to assess patentability. The decision may be found here for review prior to the meeting.

Philip Horler, a partner in the London Office of Withers Rogers, will lead the discussion.