Florian Meier, Autor bei meier ip

April 4, 2026April 4, 2026

How Does the Easter Bunny Lay Eggs? Ask the DPMA

Every Easter revives one of humanity’s most persistent mysteries: how does the Easter Bunny manage to lay eggs, and why are they so colorful? According to the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA), the answer lies not in biology, but in intellectual property.

A playful journey through the DPMA’s DEPATISnet database reveals more than a century of patents dedicated to egg-laying Easter bunnies. As early as 1894, inventors patented mechanical toy hares equipped with hidden channels, spring-loaded magazines, rotating drums, and cleverly actuated flaps that dispense eggs, sweets, or coins on command. Later filings added synchronized ear-wiggling, continuous egg output, automated collection cycles, and even devices for cooking, coloring, labeling, and decorating eggs.

Fig. 3 of DE 78395 — Figs. 2, 3 of DE 78395 A

The Easter Bunny, it turns out, is less a zoological anomaly than a triumph of inventive engineering. Sometimes, the best answers really are hidden in patent claims.

March 30, 2026March 30, 2026

Uneven Distribution of UPC Cases

Since the start of operations, UPC litigation has concentrated heavily in a small number of local divisions, most notably in Germany. This concentration has triggered an active policy debate within the UPC community, sparked by an invitation from the UPC Advisory committee, about whether the current distribution reflects legitimate user choice or reveals a structural imbalance requiring intervention.

A prominent position is articulated in the open letter by Bardehle Pagenberg, which argues that uneven case distribution is neither surprising nor problematic. According to this view, concentration is a market‑driven outcome reflecting litigants’ preferences for experienced courts and predictable procedures—patterns that already existed in pre‑UPC national litigation. Regulatory intervention, the authors warn, risks undermining party autonomy and the system’s early success.

Other stakeholders adopt a more cautious stance. The UPC Advisory Committee has explicitly invited observer organisations to analyse the reasons for the imbalance and to consider whether measures encouraging a broader geographic spread may be warranted. EPLAW has clarified that it has not endorsed any corrective measures but is merely collecting member input for the Advisory Committee’s deliberations.

Academic and policy commentary highlights a deeper concern: sustained concentration in historically dominant venues may shape procedural expectations and litigation culture in ways that gradually narrow effective choice, even without formal constraints. From this perspective, the debate is less about caseload management than about the long‑term legitimacy of a “truly European” patent judiciary.

More comprehensive reviews of the discussion can be found on ipfray, Juve patent, and the Kluwer Patent Blog.

March 3, 2026March 3, 2026

Euro-PCTs and EPO fee increase

The European Patent Office (EPO) will increase a wide range of official fees with effect from 1 April 2026. As with previous fee adjustments, many applicants are planning to secure the lower rates by ensuring that all relevant fees are paid on or before 31 March 2026. For standard (EP direct) European patent applications, this approach is usually straightforward: if the fee is validly paid before the increase takes effect, the lower amount generally applies. However, applicants entering the European phase of a PCT application should exercise caution.

When the 31‑month deadline for European phase entry falls on or after 1 April 2026, simply paying the fees before that date may not be sufficient because the EPO does not start processing a Euro-PCT application before the 31-month time limit (Rule 159(1) EPC) has expired.

To ensure that the lower pre‑increase fees remain applicable, applicants should consider submitting a request for early processing under Article 23(2) or 40(2) PCT. Only when such a request is filed on or before 31 March 2026 will the EPO process the entry early, allowing the lower fees to apply. Applicants with PCT applications approaching the end of the international phase should therefore review their timelines carefully and, where appropriate, file a request for early processing to avoid unintended exposure to higher fees.

January 23, 2026January 23, 2026

Color drawings and WIPO DAS

As of 1 October 2025, the EPO permits the electronic filing and processing of drawings in color and grayscale. This change, set out in the Decision of the President (OJ EPO 2025, A49) and the accompanying Notice (OJ EPO 2025, A57), represents a departure from the long‑standing requirement that drawings be submitted exclusively in black and white line form. The new framework provides applicants with greater flexibility in the preparation of visual disclosures, particularly in areas where colour conveys technical information that cannot readily be expressed through conventional monochrome illustrations.

The EPO processes the color drawings throughout the Office’s internal workflows. This includes their extraction and preparation for deposit with the WIPO Digital Access Service. Practitioners should be aware, however, that downstream Offices may apply their own technical constraints when retrieving documents via WIPO DAS. Where an accessing Office does not yet support the processing of colour drawings, it may convert such documents to black and white as part of its intake procedure.

Applicants relying on color to convey essential technical content are therefore advised to consider whether jurisdictions of interest can accommodate such material without loss of information.

January 13, 2026January 13, 2026

Search and Examination Matters 2026

The European Patent Office will host “Search and Examination Matters 2026” online from 2 to 5 February 2026. This free event, organized with epi, offers four afternoon sessions featuring 16 presentations on key topics in patent practice. A major focus will be on artificial intelligence and its impact on search and examination, including challenges in sufficiency of disclosure. Other sessions will address inventive step in graphical user interfaces and practical issues faced by professionals. The event encourages interactive discussion with EPO examiners and experts, providing a platform to exchange insights and ask questions. Sessions will not be recorded, so live participation is essential. Registration is open now, and attendance is free.