The Enlarged Board of Appeal faces its first referral of 2025. The EPO's highest instance must now decide on the office's current legal practice regarding description amendments. The case concerns the grant of a Knauf Insulation patent for a plant growth medium, which Rockwool aims to prevent.
Must the description of a European patent align with amended patent claims? The EPO's Enlarged Board of Appeal must now address this question. At the end of July, Technical Board of Appeal 3.3.02 under chairman O. Müller referred several questions to the EPO's highest judicial instance in the dispute between Rockwool and Knauf Insulation (case ID: T 697/22).
The case concerns Knauf Insulation's EP 2 124 521, which covers a hydroponic growing medium. Knauf manufactures insulation materials primarily used in buildings, including those for green roofs and facades. As global warming concerns mount, the greening of buildings is seen as innovative technology for reducing overheating in buildings and urban areas.
Rockwool, active in the same segment, opposed the grant of Knauf's EP 521 with support from Meissner Bolte. The Meissner Bolte team includes partner Felix Letzelter, as well as Klaus Linn and former BoA judge Hans-Peter Felgenhauer.
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