According to Article 83 of the European Patent Convention an invention must be disclosed in a patent application in a manner sufficiently clear and complete for it to be carried out by a person skilled in the art.
According to Article 83 of the European Patent Convention (EPC) an invention must be disclosed in a patent application in a manner sufficiently clear and complete for it to be carried out by a person skilled in the art.
Article 83 is relevant not only in the substantive examination stage but its terms are also prerequisite for the published European patent application to serve as prior art against the grant of later patent applications.
Applicants are often reluctant to describe in the patent application important aspects of their invention. On the one hand they want a patent and monopoly on the invention, on the other hand they are afraid of being copied in opted-out jurisdictions if they reveal too many features of the invention. A patent application drafted in view of this compromise may turn out to be a poor solution since it fails to comply with at least the ‘complete’ requirement of Article 83 EPC.
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