On 18 June 2025, the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) rendered its decision on claim interpretation in EPO proceedings in matter G 1/24 . The EBA held that (headnote of the decision): “The description and any drawings are always referred to when interpreting the claims, and not just in the case of unclarity or ambiguity.” Thus, claim interpretation in proceedings before the EPO is based on the same principles as in infringement proceedings. Prior to G 1/24, some Boards of Appeal took the position that the description and drawings are to be consulted for claim interpretation only in case the claims were unclear or ambiguous.
Many useful and valuable resources on G 1/24 are already available online, such as:
- The EPO’s Press Communiqué of 18 June 2025
- The IPKat’s review of the decision
- The Kluwer Patent Blog’s review of the decision
While the headnote of G 1/24 stipulates that the description is to be taken into consideration for claim interpretation in proceedings before the EPO, this does not mean that clarity issues in the claims can be resolved by simply referring to the description. Point 20 of G 1/24 highlights “… the importance of the examining division carrying out a high quality examination of whether a claim fulfils the clarity requirements of Article 84 EPC. The correct response to any unclarity in a claim is amendment.”