Tuesday, November 10, 2026

Time: 10 A.M. Pacific / 12 P.M. Central / 1 P.M. Eastern

Place: Virtual - Zoom

Cost: Complimentary

CLE Credit: We will apply for 1.0 hours of CLE credit for Minnesota, California, Texas and Washington state

Chemical innovation rarely fits neatly into a single compound or structure. More often, it lives in ranges, properties, and measurable characteristics, which makes claiming it before the European Patent Office a distinct challenge.

The next installment of the SLW Chemistry and Biology Series, "Chemical Inventions Before the EPO," takes on the key questions practitioners face when protecting chemical inventions at the EPO. Guest speaker Dr. Christian Gärtner, Partner at Prüfer & Partner, joins moderator Ryan Connell to work through several core themes. The session opens with when an invention can be characterized by parameters and what the EPO requires for those parameters to hold up. From there, it turns to clarity and measurement: when a claim relies on a parameter, the method and conditions of measurement must appear in the claim itself, in the description it references, or already be known to the skilled person. Get this wrong, and an otherwise strong claim can lose its footing.

The discussion also covers Markush formulae, including how they define classes of chemical compounds and the selection rules that govern choosing sub-generic groups within them, along with unity requirements and the tradeoffs between product, process, system and use claims.

Whether you're drafting new applications or defending existing ones, this session gives you a sharper read on how the EPO evaluates chemical claims, and how to build yours to withstand scrutiny.  

Dr. Christian Gärtner is a German and European Patent Attorney and European Patent Litigator. He has been working as a patent professional at Prüfer & Partner since December 2013, and has been German Patent Attorney and European Patent Attorney since 2017. Since 2024, he has been Managing Partner of Prüfer & Partner. Dr. Christian Gärtner holds a diploma degree from the University of Stuttgart in Process Engineering, and further a masters degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He worked in the research group of Prof. James A. Dumesic at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Dr. Christian Gärtner further holds a doctoral degree in Chemical Engineering from the Technical University of Munich. He gained practical industry experience through internships at BASF SE (technical development, acid gas scrubbing) and Robert Bosch GmbH (polymer technology, Waiblingen).

Ryan Connell is a registered patent attorney practicing intellectual property law with an emphasis on chemical engineering, materials science, biotechnology, and organic chemistry. Ryan also has experience in a variety of mechanical and electro-mechanical related arts. Ryan received his B.S. in biochemistry/molecular biology and his B.A. in chemistry from the University of Minnesota Duluth (2009), his M.S. in organic chemistry from the University of Minnesota Duluth (2011) and his J.D. from the University of Minnesota (2014), magna cum laude. 

Register now for this highly informative presentation and feel free to share the invitation with a friend or colleague.