Justification of the Inventive Activity: The proceeding before the DPMA, the EPO, and the Federal Patent Court

A patent can be a very important asset for a company. However, the path to obtaining one is often challenging. Only inventions that are completely new and demonstrate an inventive step are granted a patent. Therefore, the key criteria for patent grant are novelty and inventive step.

The justification of the inventive step regularly determines the outcome of the examination proceedings before the patent offices—the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) and the European Patent Office (EPO)—and in contentious cases before the Federal Patent Court (BPatG).

Consequently, the criterion of inventive step deserves the utmost attention. This specialized book provides readers with the legal know-how necessary to successfully justify the inventive step of their invention in proceedings before the DPMA, the EPO, and the BPatG, or to effectively challenge a third party’s patent in litigation.

Dr. Thomas Heinz Meitinger is a German and European patent attorney. He is the managing director of Meitinger Patentanwalts GmbH, a medium-sized patent law firm based in Munich. After studying electrical engineering in Karlsruhe, he initially worked as a development engineer. Later, he held positions as production manager and technical director in medium-sized companies.

Dr. Meitinger regularly publishes scientific articles and writes specialist books on intellectual property law and technical subjects. He also gives lectures on patent, trademark, and design law.

Dr. Meitinger holds degrees in engineering (Dipl.-Ing. Univ.) and industrial engineering (Dipl.-Wirtsch.-Ing. FH). Additionally, he has earned multiple master's degrees: LL.M., LL.M., MBA, MBA, M.A., and M.Sc.