{"id":51493,"date":"2026-09-21T12:11:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T10:11:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.boehmert.de\/?p=51493"},"modified":"2026-09-21T12:20:35","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T10:20:35","slug":"the-patent-lawyer-jan-goering-article-84-epc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.boehmert.de\/en\/the-patent-lawyer-jan-goering-article-84-epc\/","title":{"rendered":"The Patent Lawyer: Jan Goering on the growing importance of clarity objections under Article 84 EPC"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Why current EPO practice is reshaping the boundaries between examination and claim interpretation<\/h2>\n<div>\n<p>Art. 84 EPC is the focus of a recent article by<a href=\"https:\/\/www.boehmert.de\/en\/team\/jan-goering\/\"> <span class=\"___xxxjie0 f1w7gpdv f1gqqdtu\" data-wra=\"1\">Jan Goering<\/span><\/a>, German and European Patent Attorney and partner at BOEHMERT &amp; BOEHMERT, published in The Patent Lawyer. In his article, \u201cInventing unclarity: the expanding reach of Article 84 EPC\u201d, he examines the growing significance of clarity objections during European patent prosecution and questions whether current examination practice remains aligned with the provision\u2019s original purpose.<span class=\"___xxxjie0 f1w7gpdv f1gqqdtu\" data-wra=\"1\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Drawing on the legislative history of the European Patent Convention as well as international patent frameworks, <span class=\"___xxxjie0 f1w7gpdv f1gqqdtu\" data-wra=\"1\">Jan Goering<\/span> argues that Article 84 EPC was originally intended to facilitate the examination process rather than serve as a substantive mechanism for restricting otherwise patentable claims. According to his analysis, the provision has gradually evolved into a frequently invoked tool that can have a significant impact on the wording and effective scope of patent claims.<\/p>\n<p>The article also explores whether an increasing focus on linguistic precision risks diverting attention from what patent law is ultimately designed to protect: the technical contribution of an invention. <span class=\"___xxxjie0 f1w7gpdv f1gqqdtu\" data-wra=\"1\">Jan Goering<\/span> discusses recent developments in EPO case law and places them in the broader context of the division of responsibilities between examining divisions and the courts. This development is closely linked to the debate surrounding decision G 1\/24, which we discussed in our article \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.boehmert.de\/en\/decision-g-1-24-claim-interpretation-at-the-epo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New Decision G 1\/24 \u2013 Claim Interpretation Before the European Patent Office<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Particular attention is given to the relationship between claim breadth and clarity. The central argument of the article is that broad claims are not necessarily unclear. Rather, the decisive question is whether the skilled person can understand the claimed technical teaching. Questions regarding the extent of patent protection should ultimately be addressed through the substantive requirements of patentability and through judicial claim interpretation, rather than through an expansive application of clarity objections during examination.<\/p>\n<div>Readers can access the full article,<em>&#8220;<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.boehmert.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/inventing-unclarity-the-expanding-reach-of-article-84-EPC.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Inventing unclarity: the expanding reach of Article 84 EPC<\/a><em>&#8220;<\/em>, in the publicly available <span class=\"___xxxjie0 f1w7gpdv f1gqqdtu\" data-wra=\"1\"><a class=\"fui-Link fai-bebop ___1myvvpj f2hkw1w f3rmtva f1ewtqcl f16muhyy f1k6fduh f1w7gpdv f1mo0ibp fjoy568 ff5ikls f1s184ao f1mk8lai fnbmjn9 f1o700av f13mvf36 f33ey8m f9n3di6 f1ids18y f1tx3yz7 f1bwia3u f1eh06m1 f1xeumsx fhgqx19 f1olyrje f1p93eir f1nev41a f132whgj f1v74mp6 f1tsf1ni fnq52rx f16zlvvm\" tabindex=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk\/html5\/reader\/production\/default.aspx?pubname=&amp;edid=4d595de0-ba0d-4f0c-b2c3-b5110bbde7fb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-tabster=\"{&quot;restorer&quot;:{&quot;type&quot;:1}}\">July\/August 2026 issue of The Patent Lawyer Magazine<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why current EPO practice is reshaping the boundaries between examination and claim interpretation Art. 84 EPC is the focus of a recent article by Jan Goering, German and European Patent Attorney and partner at BOEHMERT &amp; BOEHMERT, published in The&#8230;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":43656,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[210],"tags":[],"legal_areas":[224],"class_list":["post-51493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-publications","legal_areas-patents-and-utility-models"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Art. 84 EPC: Jan Goering in The Patent Lawyer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Art. 84 EPC in focus: Jan Goering examines the growing importance of clarity objections in EPO proceedings in The Patent Lawyer.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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