News and Publications

EPO Enlarged Board of Appeal decision G1/23 removing the reproducibility criterion of G1/92 from commercially available products as prior art

On July 2, 2025, the landmark decision G1/23 “Solar Cell” was published by the Enlarged Board of Appeal. HOFFMANN EITLE was involved in this case as representative for our long-standing client Mit...

UPC Court of Appeal has its say on inventive step (UPC_CoA_464/2024; UPC_CoA_530/2024; et.al.)

Court docket: Luxembourg (LU), decision of 25.11.2025 UPC_CoA_464/2024; UPC_CoA_530/2024; UPC_CoA_21/2025; UPC_CoA_457/2024; UPC_CoA_532/2024  UPC_CoA_27/2025; UPC_CoA_458/2024; UPC_CoA_533/2024 [E...

Insufficient disclosure of a dependent claim combined with late filing of requests deleting this claim leads to revocation at the EPO

The Board of Appeal’s decision T 878/23 is a stark reminder that it is important to make sure that the claims of a European patent are all in line, do not contradict each other, and cannot give ri...

HOFFMANN EITLE nominated for “IP Firm of the Year” at the Chambers Germany Awards 2026

We are proud to announce that HOFFMANN EITLE has been nominated for “Intellectual Property Firm of the Year” at the Chambers Germany Awards 2026. These prestigious awards, presented by Chambers &am...

HOFFMANN EITLE announces newest members of the partnership and associate partners

As of January 2026, HOFFMANN EITLE is pleased to welcome Thomas Gniadek and Bianca-Lucia Vos as new partners under the German Partnership Act (PartGG). Thomas Gniadek is an experienced German Attor...

HOFFMANN EITLE colleagues who have successfully qualified as an attorney at a national level

We are very proud to announce the HOFFMANN EITLE colleagues who have successfully qualified as an attorney at a national level in 2025.Congratulations go to the newly qualified German Patent Attorn...

HOFFMANN EITLE Quarterly Newsletter 12/25

Dear Colleagues and Friends, In this final issue of the Hoffmann Eitle Quarterly for 2025, we begin by exploring the key interplay between trade fairs in Germany and IP, from the perspectives of bo...

HOFFMANN EITLE further strengthens its patent litigation capabilities with the hire of Jonas Smeets

Following the start of Dr. Thomas Gniadek as new co-chair of HOFFMANN EITLE’s patent litigation group on 1 December 2025, the firm is pleased to share another significant enhancement of its patent...

UPC Court fees to increase from January 2026

The Unified Patent Court (UPC) will implement a broad revision of its fee schedule with effect from 1 January 2026, raising core litigation costs and introducing new charges across several procedur...

CD Milano provides answers on “How many attacks are too many?” (UPC_CFI_497/2024, UPC_CFI_571/2024)

Court docket: CD Milano, decision of 29.05.2025 - CFI_497/2024; CFI_571/2024 [EP 3 756 767]Parties: bioMérieux Austria GmbH, et al. v. Labrador Diagnostics LLC  Contributor: Marianna Galliani Headn...