Reviews of A Guide to the EPC 2000

"The biggest shake-up in European patent law for three decades takes place on 13 December 2007. On that date the EPC 2000 will come into force.  Few are the patent professionals who are not aware of this - fewer still, perhaps, are those completely confident of their grasp of all the changes.

For those not numbered among the latter, this book will be invaluable. Nicholas Fox has set out the provisions of the amended Convention article by article, each with its relevant rules. There are comments on all the principal articles, as well as many cross-references to the revised Guidelines, Auxiliary Regulations, sections of the European Patent Office's book Case Law of the Boards of Appeal, and a number of citations of specific Enlarged Board of Appeal decisions. The style is clear and succinct, in full conformity with Article 84. It is monolingual, (the present edition is in English and editions in French and German are to follow very soon) which may be an additional convenience. It may be confidently recommended to all European practitioners as a guide and reference."

Tim Roberts, Chartered Patent Attorney, MA (Oxon), Hon LL.D (Sheffield)

"The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys has announced the imminent publication of a user-friendly guide to the EPC 2000, which as all practitioners know will enter into force on 13 December 2007.

The IPKat thinks that this sounds like a marvellous thing, particularly as the book is being sold for the extremely modest price (for legal books at least) of £22.50 per copy for CIPA members and £25 per copy for non-CIPA members. Having looked at the extracts available online, it looks like the book will be a very useful way of helping out those who have not yet become familiar with the changes that will soon be implemented."

David Pearce, Chartered Patent Attorney -  IPKat

"EPC 2000 is now upon us. Although the numbering of the Articles remains unchanged, much that was formerly in the Articles has been transferred into the Implementing Regulations which have been re-numbered. We will all have to get used to notices of intended grant under Rule 71(3) rather than the familiar Rule 51(4). For most of us it will be a steep learning curve.

The Guide...brings together the text of each EPC Article with its relevant Rules... References and cross-references to related Articles and Rules appear in the right-hand margin, and these cross-references contain invaluable indications of the subject matter to which the cross-references relate...

The commentary that appears, where appropriate, in a box following the relevant Rules is limited to a short discussion of how the various provisions interact together with brief remarks on any pertinent Enlarged Board of Appeal decisions. ...The reader is referred, where appropriate, to the Case Law of the Boards of Appeal of the EPO and to the new Examination Guidelines.

This is not a book for every firm merely to buy and keep in its library. It is a book for all practitioners to buy and keep on their desk. It is also likely to find its way into the formalities departments of firms where it is certain to be well-thumbed. Compiling such a useful guide through the complexities of the EPC 2000 is a major effort, the concise and helpful comments and cross-references are the result of much painstaking effort and thought. The author is to be congratulated on having produced such a concise and helpful document at just the time when it was needed."

Paul Cole, Chartered Patent Attorney - CIPA Journal December 2007