1. Key takeaways
Public prior use: Making available a manufacturing method by use pursuant to Art. 54(2) EPC
A manufacturing method of a publicly used product is made available to the public by use pursuant to Art. 54(2) EPC if, at the application date, the person skilled in the art could establish the method without undue burden by analysing the product’s composition. There is no support in the EPC for an additional requirement that the skilled person would need particular reasons for analysing the product.
A publicly available product disclosing information relevant to the novelty of a claimed manufacturing method must enable the skilled person to use that method based on their common general knowledge, while features outside the claimed invention need not be reproducible.
