| |||||||
|
| ||||||
| Unity of invention | - J 21/09 | Guidelines
| |||||
|
| ||||||
(1) Where a group of inventions is claimed in a European patent application, the requirement of unity of invention under Article 82 shall be fulfilled only when there is a technical relationship among those inventions involving one or more of the same or corresponding special technical features. The expression "special technical features" shall mean those features which define a contribution which each of the claimed inventions considered as a whole makes over the prior art. |
| ||||||
| |||||||
(2) The determination whether a group of inventions is so linked as to form a single general inventive concept shall be made without regard to whether the inventions are claimed in separate claims or as alternatives within a single claim. |
| ||||||
| |||||||
|
|
| |||||
|
|
| |||||
|
|
|
| ||||
Related provisions | Case Law | ||||||
Articles | Rules | EBoA | BoA | Search | |||
|
|
|
| |||||