European Patent Office Examiners Shared Practice on Virus Strains with Sakpatenti Staff

Examiners of the European Patent Office (EPO) conducted in hybrid format coaching for the staff members of the Chemistry-Medicine and Biology Division, Department of Inventions and New Varieties and Breeds, National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia – “Sakpatenti”. The coaching was aimed to share patent examination practices on inventions related to virus strains.

The training was led by Mr. Laurent Deleu, Patent examiner, European Patent Office, who introduced to the participants EPO’s latest approaches, standards and practical experience in the given field. 

The main topics of the coaching covered: patent examination on virus strains, virus per se and viral vectors, adenoviruses and lentiviruses and various fields of their application – vaccines, oncolytic and other biotechnological innovations. On the example of specific applications, the participants discussed in detail such topical issues as: patentability of invention; sufficiency of disclosure; the use of the Budapest international microorganism deposit system; the rules of the  European Patent Convention (EPC) related to biological inventions; search strategies;  EPO’s approach to post-published research and submitted evidence. The sessions took place in a discussion format.

It is noteworthy that in the recent years the number of applications for biotechnological inventions related to viruses has increased significantly. Especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, interest in gene therapy, viral vectors and immunotherapy has increased considerably. Rapid evolution of new strains, their mutagenic nature and potential impact on public health pose technological and legal challenges to the patent systems worldwide. As a result, examination of such inventions requires special professional development and standardized approaches.

The main objective of coaching is professional development of Sakpatenti examiners and integration of the EPO standards and tools into the national examination procedures. 

Coaching sessions were delivered within the Action Plan on Bilateral Cooperation between the European Patent Office and Sakpatenti 2025-2026, which provides for targeted support and capacity building of examiners in accordance with European standards.