G 2/08

The three questions referred to the Enlarged Board of Appeal were: ==Answers to the referred questions==

The Enlarged Board of Appeal answered these questions as follows: The first two answers mean that a new dosage regime of a drug can render patent claims novel and inventive. A patent having such claims may be granted provided the other requirements of the European Patent Convention are met. More specifically, the Enlarged Board of Appeal approved the following specific uses of known medications: • treatments of a novel group of patients, • alternate routes or modes of administration, • technical effects leading to genuinely new applications. Swiss-type claims were introduced in decision G 5/83, but the EPC 2000 removed the cause of that approach. The third answer means that European patents having Swiss-type claims cease. ==See also==