UPC CFI, CD Munich, 24 February 2026: Patentee responsible for drafting claims that adequately define the subject matter for protection, particularly composition claims.
11-06-2026 Print this page
IPPT20260224, UPC CFI, CD Munich, UPM-Kymmene v International N&H
Patent revoked: lack of inventive step, added matter. (Article 56 EPC, Article 138(1)(c) EPC).
Claim Construction (Article 69 EPC).
Claim 1, being a product claim, is not limited to the use of the claimed sugar composition as an intermediate product in any particular process.
Claim 1 does not correspond to an intermediate product formed as part of a new and advantageous process for producing a xylose-enriched sugar mixture which can be subjected to crystallisation.
Skilled person interprets the “amount of marker molecule” in claim 1 as being measured relative to the sugar composition rather than relative to the total sugar concentration in the composition.
Description does not provide a “definition” of the basis for calculating the amount of marker molecule in a sugar composition.
The skilled person would expect a clear definition of how to calculate the amount of marker molecule.
In the absence of a definition or technical teaching, it is in the interest of legal certainty that third parties can rely on the ordinary wording of the claim read by the skilled person in its technical context.
The patentee is responsible for drafting claims that adequately define the subject matter for which protection is sought. Particularly for composition claims containing numerical ranges of ingredients. For such claims, the skilled person may reasonably expect that the patentee is precise and diligent in specifying the components of a claimed composition.
Added matter (Article 138(1) (c) EPC, Article 123(2) EPC)
Technically relevant information - not derivable from the application as filed.
Lack of inventive step (Article 56 EPC).
Absent an inextricable link between a claimed composition and an inventive process for the production of a known end-product, no inventive step can be acknowledged for an otherwise non-inventive composition relied upon as an intermediate product.
IPPT20260224, UPC CFI, CD Munich, UPM-Kymmene v International N&H
