Course overview

The law and interpretation of patent claims varies widely in different jurisdictions. Understanding how patent claims are interpreted in different regions is essential when trying to prove patent infringement and validity in order to protect an organisation’s primary assets. This course has been specifically designed for all patent professionals doing business in a complex multi-jurisdictional environment.

The programme, presented by our expert speaker faculty, will include fact-based scenarios and case examples, with comparisons of the USA, UK and German approaches to claim construction and validity determination. The speakers will provide recommendations for both litigating patents and preparing patent applications to the best advantage.

Attending this course will provide the perfect opportunity for interaction with experts in the field, as well as other like-minded participants, who understand the challenges you are facing. There is time during the event for you to ask your questions and discuss any issues of particular concern in relation to patent construction.

This course is part of our collection of IP & Patents Training Courses.

Benefits of attending

By attending this course you will:

Understand how your patent claims will be construed in Germany, UK and USA
Get to grips with the divergent methods employed in the three jurisdictions to interpret similar claim language
Rationalise the disparate effect of the doctrines of equivalents in the three jurisdictions
Compare the distinct litigation arguments and strategies that would be used in each of the three jurisdictions to construe similar claims
Explore the major claim interpretation approaches with interactive panel discussions of real-life cases

Who should attend?

This course is a must-attend event for:

Patent professionals in private practice, including patent attorneys and lawyers
Heads of IP, heads of patents and in-house patent counsel at every level
Patent engineers and inventors

Plus all whose responsibilities include the need to understand the scope of patent coverage in USA, UK and Germany.

Enrol/reserve

This course will cover:

Patent claim construction generally

In the USA
- Inherent ambiguities of the all-elements rule
- Use of intrinsic and extrinsic evidence
- Counterintuitive interpretation of functional claims
- USPTO proceedings vs infringement litigation
In the UK
- Court’s approach to the ‘normal’ interpretation of the claims …
- … and the (wider) scope of protection under the UK doctrine of equivalents
- Accepted principles of claim construction (Virgin Atlantic)
- The approach taken to parameters, numerals and specific claim form
In Germany
- Literal infringement and ‘functional’ interpretation
- Can ‘functional’ interpretation result in construction ‘below’ the wording?
- Numerals and literal infringement

Doctrines of equivalents and purposive construction

In the USA
- Sub-tests for determining equivalents
- Counterweights to ‘equivalence’
- Vitiation
- Unintended disavowal
- Prosecution history estoppel and its variants
In the UK
- The groundbreaking judgement in Actavis vs Lilly
- Does a ‘variant’ vary from the invention in an immaterial way? Or achieve substantially the same result in the same way?
- Compliance with EPC Article 69 and Protocol
- UK court’s willingness to refer to EPO prosecution history
In Germany
- The Schneidmesser questions
- Relevance of Pemetrexed
- Has the scope of protection become broader again?
- Relevance of prosecution history

Arguments and strategy: how to maximise the likelihood of a finding of infringement at each phase of a patent litigations

Pleadings (Germany, UK, USA)
Disclosure (UK, USA)
Expert evidence (UK, USA)
Trial (Germany, UK, USA)

Comparative case studies

Presentations of real-life case studies with interactive panel discussions explaining the often dissimilar approaches that were or would be taken in the three jurisdictions for interpreting specific claims

Enrol/reserve

Ulrich Blumenroeder
Grünecker

Ulrich Blumenröder is a partner at Grünecker PartG mbB, an IP firm in Munich which focuses equally on both IP-litigation and IP-prosecution. Ulrich is active in all fields of intellectual property but specialises primarily in patent litigation.

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Bradley Hulbert
McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP

Bradley Hulbert is a founding partner in McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP, an 80-lawyer patent firm based in Chicago. Bradley has been lead counsel in a wide range of successful patent lawsuits and is an adjunct professor of law at the Chicago-Kent Law School.

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Matthew Jones
RPC

Matthew has extensive experience of acting in large scale UK patent litigation and in multi-jurisdictional patent litigation. Matthew has acted in litigation relating to a wide range of technologies, including electronics, telecommunications, cryptography, optics, mechanical devices, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.

Before joining EIP, Matthew worked as Senior Counsel for Teva Pharmaceuticals Europe. During his time at Teva, Matthew managed high-profile litigation in the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands, including Generics [UK] Ltd v Yeda & Teva, which related to the blockbuster drug Copaxone®. Prior to working at Teva, Matthew worked as a solicitor at McDermott Will & Emery and at Taylor Wessing.

Matthew has a degree in Biochemistry from Bristol University and a PhD in Biochemistry (specialising in quantum enzymology) from Leicester University. He has written papers published in peer-reviewed journals and the legal press, and frequently speaks on intellectual property and litigation at business schools, universities and international conferences.

More details

NEW higher discounts for multiple bookings - bring your colleagues to make your training budget go further:

30% off the 2nd delegate*
40% off the 3rd delegate*
50% off the 4th delegate*

Please contact us for pricing if you are interested in booking 5 or more delegates

4 November 2025

Classroom
Rembrandt Hotel
London

09:00-17:00 UK (London)
Course code 15038
Optional £255/€356/$407 per night

GBP 699 799
EUR 979 1,119
USD 1,123 1,279

Until 30 Sep

1 day classroom-based training
Optional accommodation - 1 night including breakfast, checking in the day before the course
Meet presenters and fellow attendees in person
Lunch and refreshments provided
Download documentation and certification of completion
Fair transfer and cancellation policy

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for 7 days, no obligation

* Early booking discounts may not be combined with other discounts or offers. As such, the discounts for 2nd/3rd/4th delegates are based on the full price; and apply only when booking multiple delegates on the same date.

Reviews of IPI's Litigation-Proofing and Proving your Patent Claims training course

Very interesting. The comparisons between the different jurisdictions were very helpful.

May 26 2021

Andreas Leijon Sweden
Senior Patent Attorney, Alfa Laval Corporate AB

May 26 2021

All the webinar was very interesting. The webinar was carried out very well. Easy to participate. The speakers very good in maintaining the attention of the participants.

MARIA LUISA MARCHESI Italy
Italian Patent Attorney, ENI CORPORATE UNIVERSITY SPA