Course: Opposition Matters 2025 | e-learning centre

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    Opposition matters is one of the key conferences for patent searchers and attorneys alike, offering participants direct access to EPO examiners and lawyers and European patent attorneys with many years of opposition experience. This year’s conference, which took place on 18 and 19 September 2025, focused on practical issues such as multiple auxiliary requests and opposition spread over several days but also targeted future developments such as AI in opposition and the link between opposition and the UPC. There was also a session on the biotech CRISPR cases but with a broader link to claiming priority.

    In the sections below you can access and download the presentations of the event. 

    Click here to see more about Opposition Matters 2025. 

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    • Programme

      13.00-13.10   Welcome and introduction

      Steve Rowan, EPO Vice-President, Patent Granting Process
      Julia Gwilt, Patent Attorney, epi

      13.10-13.55   Oral proceedings over several days. Their usefulness and how the opposition division decides in advance

      Oral Proceedings run up to one day as a general rule. However, there are cases which necessitate longer processing time to achieve a successful conclusion. How the division decides and why are explained here. It is complemented by a viewpoint from the patent attorney angle.

      Lead: epi

      Régis Quélavoine, Director Opposition, EPO
      Ben Husband, Patent Attorney, epi

      Oral Proceedings over several days

       

      13.55-14.40   Opposition proceedings and UPC

      The session will focus on the impact of/and interplay between the opposition proceedings before the EPO and revocation/infringement proceedings before the UPC, in particular acceleration of the opposition proceedings and stay of the revocation proceedings in the case of parallel proceedings pending. Presentation by patent attorney followed by a round table.

      Lead: epi

      Katarzyna Walert, Lawyer, EPO
      Nathaniel Taylor, Patent Attorney, epi
      Tobias Pichlmaier, Judge, UPC

      Opposition proceedings and UPC

             
             14.40-15.55   Break

      15.55-16.40   Artificial Intelligence in opposition proceedings, pilot for minutes

      This session provides a state-of-the-art comparison of one of the hottest topics in IP. The guidelines on Artificial Intelligence will be looked at through the different lenses of the EPO and the epi. There will also be an update on the pilot project on minute taking via Artificial Intelligence in Oral Proceedings.

      Lead: EPO

      Régis Quélavoine, Director, Opposition, EPO
      Timothey Powell, Patent Attorney, epi

      Artificial Intelligence in Opposition proceedings

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    • Programme

      13.00-13.10   Short recap of day 1

      13.10-13.55   CRISPR Prio cases deep dive, priority case law summary

      Claiming priority and the surrounding challenges is often viewed as complex. This session aims to demystify the topic by a deep dive into the case law surrounding it. It will be exemplified using the CRISPR case.

      Lead: EPO

      Angelique Iyer-Baldew, Director Opposition, EPO
      Mathias Ulbrecht, Senior Expert, EPO
      Simon Wright, Patent Attorney, epi

      CRISPR priority cases deep dive

             
             13.55-14.10   Break

      14.10-14.55   Admissibility of Auxiliary Requests: Considerations in EPO Opposition Proceedings

      Auxiliary requests are key for patent proprietors navigating opposition proceedings before the EPO. This session will explore the procedural and substantive factors that influence the admissibility of auxiliary requests, with a focus on recent case law and practical considerations. Attendees will gain insights into when to file auxiliary requests effectively, how to anticipate admissibility challenges, and how to structure requests to align with procedural requirements.

      Lead: epi

      Angelique Iyer-Baldew, Director Operations, EPO
      Magdalena Kosala, Lawyer, EPO
      Ben Husband, Patent Attorney, epi

      Admissibility of auxiliary requests

      14.55-15.00   Closing 

      Xavier Seuba, Principal director, EPO Academy, Professional Certifications & Learning Partnerships

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    Angélique Iyer-Baldew 

    Angelique is a director in Operations for oppositions covering the area of health, materials and production. She holds a PhD in chemistry and has worked as European Patent attorney prior to joining the EPO. 

    Julia Gwilt

    Julia has worked in private practice in the Cambridge area for over 25 years specialising in software inventions. More recently, she has been involved in supporting companies protect their inventions in the emerging fields of bioinformatics and artificial intelligence. Before qualifying as a European patent attorney in 2001, Julia did a mathematics degree at Cambridge University and further study at the Ecole Centrale de Paris. She is currently the Chair of the Professional Education Committee for epi.  

    Ben Husband 

    Ben has a considerable practice in the MedTech field which covers a broad spectrum of mechanical and software technology. Ben’s practice also includes original drafting and handling extensive patent portfolios in a variety of technology areas including wireless communications, robotic process automation, call centre routing, and memory devices. Ben also has a wealth of experience from handling a significant opposition portfolio across a number of different medical and electronics technology areas. Recently Ben has been involved with several matters at the UPC. 

    Magdalena Kolasa 

    Lawyer Patent Law & Processes | Post-grant Processes and Substantive Patent Law 

    Magdalena advises on oppositions and acts as legally qualified examiner. She also advises on substantive patent law, with a focus on computer-implemented inventions and artificial intelligence. Before joining the EPO in 2013 she has worked for several years in private practice and academia. She studied law in Lodz, Poland and in Munich, Germany, where she obtained her LL.M in intellectual property and Ph.D. in trade secrets law. She is an author of several publications on trade secrets. 

    Tobias Pichlmaier

    Tobias Pichlmaier is Presiding Judge at the District Court in Munich. In 2000 he started as a judge at the District Court in Munich (Chamber for Patent Litigation). From 2001 to 2004 he worked in the Copyright Department of the Federal Ministry of Justice in Berlin. In 2004 Tobias was public prosecutor at the public prosecutor’s office in Munich. After another stage as judge at the District Court in Munich from 2005 to 2012 (Intellectual Property Rights, especially Patent Litigation), he served as judge at the Higher Regional Court in Munich from 2012 to 2016. From 2016 until January 2022 Tobias was Presiding Judge of a patent litigation chamber at the District Court in Munich. Since February he leads the chamber for antitrust law. He is appointed as a legally qualified judge to the Munich local division. 

    Tobias is author of various publications (Patent Law, Copyright Law, Law of Trade Secrets) and lecturer in Germany and abroad. 

    Timothy Powell

    Tim Powell is a European Patent Attorney, with nearly 40 years experience, specialising in engineering, signal processing, materials and automotive inventions. He is a qualified UK litigator and advocate and for the past 15 months has chaired the European Patents Institute's Working Group on Use of Artificial Intelligence by Patent Attorneys. 

    Régis Quélavoine 

    Régis Quélavoine, PhD, is a Director in Opposition at the European Patent Office, The Hague – NL. He is responsible for the technical communities Digital, Energy, Electro-Physics, Agri-Food, Infrastructure and Mechanics, Mobility and Space Technologies. Régis holds a PhD in computer science, specialised in speech processing and artificial intelligence. He is a member of the EPO Patents and Procedures Committee. 

    Stephen Rowan 

    Stephen Rowan joined the EPO in January 2019 as Vice-President for DG1 – Patent Granting Process. He is responsible for the entire Patent Granting Process, from the receiving of applications up to and including opposition and the grant of the patent. He is also the Office lead on Diversity & Inclusion 

    Xavier Seuba

    Xavier Seuba is Principal Director Academy, Professional Certifications and Learning Partnerships. Prior to joining the EPO as Director of the European Patent Academy and EQE, Xavier Seuba was Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Law and Political Science of Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, and before that, Academic Co-ordinator and Scientific Responsible at the Center for International Intellectual Property Studies (CEIPI), in Strasbourg. He has also worked for several international organisations (e.g., WIPO, WHO, UNCTAD, UNHCHR, IDB, EUIPO) and governments in the context patents and health.  

    Nathaniel Taylor

    Nathaniel Taylor is a UK and European Patent Attorney and Director at Keltie LLP. He has an engineering background and specialises in high-tech sustainability, intralogistics, and automotive technologies. Nathaniel has in-house experience at Jaguar Land Rover, and a major part of his practice is devoted to opposition and appeal proceedings before the EPO. 

    Matthias Ulbrecht

    Matthias Ulbrecht, Senior Expert, EPO Munich. Team (D)NA and Analysis B, Dir. 1111 – Biotech & Immunology, DNA, Peptides& Cells. Joined the Office in 2001. MD in Medicine, LMU Munich, Habilitation in Anthropology and Human Genetics LMU Munich, Involved as First Examiner or Chair in may CRISPR/Cas oppositions.

    Dr. Katarzyna Walert
     

    She joined the EPO in 2013 as a lawyer in the Directorate Patent Law & Processes. Katarzyna is experienced in various legal aspects of the examination and post-grant proceedings before the EPO, in particular she acts as a legal member in opposition proceedings. Before joining the EPO she worked as a qualified Polish lawyer in private practice in Warsaw, specialising in litigation, intellectual property and commercial law. 

    Simon Wright

    Simon has a Chemistry (with Biochemistry) degree from Bristol University and qualified as a European Patent Attorney in 1992. Simon handles patent work in a wide variety of life science, chemical and pharma fields, including stem cells, human genes and genomics, drug delivery systems, contrast agents, GM crops, algae technology and CRISPR technology. He also handles mechanical work ranging from drones to electric vehicle charging. He works for a broad variety of clients ranging from individuals, SMEs and private clients up to UK universities and biotechnology start-ups. He also acts for EU and US genomics and academic institutions. Simon has chaired CIPA’s Life Sciences Committee for 20 years, and now also Chairs the epi Biotech Committee. He is Vice President of CIPA and will be President in 2026. 

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