The Rhein-IP Digest
For patent professionals
Past issues
16. October 2026 · October 1
Why would a Board of Appeal quote the UPC?
This issue covers questions that came up over the past weeks and stayed with me. Some sound like footnotes at first and still lead straight into practice, such as inventive step before the EPO and the UPC, or re-establishment after a mistake within one's own organisation. Not every one has a final answer, but each showed me something new. Every question links to the decision itself or to a fuller analysis, in case you would like to read further.
EPOUPC
25. September 2026 · September 2
G 1/25 on description adaptation and Rule 370.9 fee reimbursements
Between 20 August and 26 September 2026, procedural focus centered on the boundaries of textual interpretation, from the Enlarged Board of Appeal's ruling on description adaptation in G 1/25 to the strict assessment of ambiguous amendments under Article 123(2) EPC.
EPOUPC
19. August 2026 · August 2
T 0712/24 on late-filed requests and Rule 5A RoP opt-out removals
Between 18 July and 19 August 2026, procedural scrutiny focused on the temporal boundaries of party actions. The period clarified the limits of removing an unauthorised opt-out under Rule 5A RoP and the strict admission thresholds for late-filed requests under Article 114(2) EPC.
EPOUPC
22. July 2026 · July 2
T 1168/24 on reformatio in peius and Rule 30 RoP requirements
Between 16 June and 17 July 2026, 130 decisions of the Boards of Appeal and 56 decisions of the Unified Patent Court were published. The procedural focus of the period was on the strict application of the prohibition of reformatio in peius after remittal and the conditions for defending granted dependent claims without an Application to amend the patent under Rule 30 RoP.
EPOUPC