European Patent Descriptions: To Adapt Or Not To Adapt?

In recent years, the European Patent Office has progressively required patent descriptions to be adapted to align them with the content of the claims, says Cyrille Poindron. He explains the background of this practice and the legal issues currently discussed at the European Patent Office.

The European Patent Office (EPO) Guidelines for Examination instruct examiners to request or make changes to patent descriptions to eliminate contradictions or inconsistencies with the claims. To implement this practice, the EPO primarily relies on Article 84 of the European Patent Convention (EPC), sometimes in combination with other provisions:

Article 84: The claims shall define the matter for which protection is sought. They shall be clear and concise and be supported by the description.