14 | 06 | 2017

The Roundtable Discussion on Patenting Procedures Relating to Biotechnology Held in Zagreb on 13 June

Organised by the European Patent Office (EPO) and the State Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Croatia (SIPO), the roundtable discussion titled Patenting Procedures Relating to Biotechnology was held on 13 June in Zagreb as a contribution to the strengthening of biotechnology in the Republic of Croatia.

The roundtable discussion aims at developing a platform to exchange knowledge and practice in this important and very complex field, raising public awareness of possibilities and particularities of patenting inventions in the field of biotechnology and learning about the practice of the European Patent Office and the SIPO as a national office to conduct patent granting procedures.

In the introduction of the roundtable discussion, experts from the EPO and the SIPO presented requirements to be met for patent protection of biotechnological inventions, as well as the way of classifying and examining patent applications from the related field before the EPO and the SIPO. There was presented an overview of opposition procedures regarding decisions in patent granting procedures and appeals before the EPO, and statistical data on patent applications and patents granted in the related field.

The second part of the roundtable was dedicated to a panel discussion in order to exchange opinions and viewpoints by participants on practical experience in patent protection in this field, on recent cases concerning patenting of plants, substantially biological procedures, nucleotide sequences and other topics, and decisions by the EPO’s Boards of Appeal upon applications against public order or morality. Participants in the panel made also a review of statistical data in the Republic of Croatia and possible reasons of a very limited number of applications in the field of biotechnology, which companies, or scientific and educational institutions appear as potential applicants and what are specific requirements that can be unfavourable for both economic and scientific-research sector in the country.

This event was intended for representatives of industry and entrepreneurship, scientific-research and supporting organisations transfer of technology and innovations, competent government authorities, patent attorneys and other interested professional public.

The roundtable discussion was preceded by a very successful and professional internal discussion between EPO’s and SIPO’s examiners held on 12 June 2017 at the SIPO’s premises, where experts exchanged experience and opinions on actualities in patent procedures relating to biotechnology for the purpose of converging practice in this very important and delicate field on the level of all member states of the European patent system.