G1/25 - Patent Consistency Matters

In G1/25, there's a new referral to the European Patent Office's Enlarged Board of Appeal tackling the issue of whether a patent description needs to be conformed to the amended claims.

The referral, stemming from T697/22, notably references G1/24 and comments that, if the description is always consulted to interpret the claims, then "any inconsistency between an amended claim and the description has become of even greater significance".

EPO Applicants will be familiar with being required to amend the description to delete reference to any embodiment no longer encompassed by the amended claims. In truth, this is very often viewed as an annoying formality, incurring unnecessary cost after substantive issues have already been dealt with. At the same time, the process is fraught with danger; whilst it's straightforward to delete an embodiment that is clearly no longer relevant, it's much more complex where the description of a now excluded embodiment potentially