European Patent Convention
Article 69
Extent of protection

(1)The extent of the protection conferred by a European patent or a European patent application shall be determined by the claims. Nevertheless, the description and drawings shall be used to interpret the claims.

(2)For the period up to grant of the European patent, the extent of the protection conferred by the European patent application shall be determined by the claims contained in the application as published. However, the European patent as granted or as amended in opposition, limitation or revocation proceedings shall determine retroactively the protection conferred by the application, in so far as such protection is not thereby extended.

Legal Texts
Our new high-speed access to the law (BETA)

Try Our Interactive EP Register Lookup

Insert the 8 digits of any EP application No.

EP