Visser's Annotated European Patent Convention 2020 Edition

The book Visser’s Annotated European Patent Convention is a commentary on the European Patent Convention and a bestseller in European patent law. Each year a new, updated edition of the book is published and available in print shortly after the annually amended Guidelines of the EPO enter into force. The EPO has announced that the annual entry into force of the Guidelines will move to 1 March and there will be no new Guidelines this year. Therefore, there will not be a 2020 edition of Visser. The next edition of Visser will be published shortly after March 2021.

The 2019 edition of Visser, updated to 15.11.2019, is suitable for candidates preparing for the EQE 2021. The supplemental note including an overview of the main legal changes between the 2019 edition and the 31.10.2020 legal cut-off date for the EQE 2021 is available under Leseprobe / Medienprobe.

The book Visser’s Annotated European Patent Convention is a commentary on the European Patent Convention and a bestseller in European patent law. Each year a new, updated edition of the book is published and available in paperback form.

The 2019 edition of this preeminent work – the only regularly updated authoritative article-by-article commentary in English on the European Patent Convention (EPC), its implementing regulations, and associated case law – provides the complete text of the 2000 Convention annotated with commentary and expert guidance on the interpretation of each paragraph. Since its first edition in 1994 it has provided the European patent community with the necessary insights to practice successfully before the European Patent Office. The EPO recommends the Visser’s Annotated European Patent Convention as the first book in its list of non-EPO/WIPO literature to be used for the preparation of the European qualifying examination.

In addition to a thorough updating of developments, new material in this edition includes the following:

•     New Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal;
•     New EPO Guidelines that enter into force on 01.11.2019;
•     The references to Guidelines 2018 are kept for the eqe 2020 candidates.