Patents, Plausibility And Data: One Year On From G 2/21

On 23 March 2023, the European Patent Office (EPO) Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) published its decision in case G 2/21, concerning plausibility in patent applications. The decision provided useful guidance on how much data needs to be disclosed in a patent application to overcome objections based on the grounds of lack of inventive step and insufficiency. One year on, we take a look at how the EPO has been applying this standard in the life sciences field.

EBA addresses plausibility

Case G 2/21 concerned a patent application for an insecticide composition used for controlling an insect pest. The applicant argued that the two claimed compounds had a synergistic effect which resulted in improved insecticide activity. However, this effect was only supported by test data published after the filing date of the patent application.