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Chapter 3 Modification of the Scope of the Patent A. Partial Renunciation I. Conditions Art. 24 (1) The owner of a patent may partially renounce his patent rights by requesting the Federal Institute of Intellectual Property: (a) to cancel a claim (Articles 51 and 55); or (b) to restrict an independent claim by incorporating one or more dependent claims in it; or (c) to restrict an independent claim in some other way; in that case, the restricted claim shall refer to the same invention and define an embodiment that is included in the specification of the published patent and in the version of the patent application that determined its filing. (2) A request under subparagraph (c) shall be acceptable once only for the same patent and shall not be acceptable after four years from the grant of the patent. II. Issue of New Patents Art. 25 (1) If, as a result of partial renunciation, claims remain that are incompatible in the same patent according to Articles 52 and 55, the patent shall be further restricted accordingly. (2) The patentee may apply for the issue of one or more new patents to cover the eliminated claims; such new patents shall be given the filing date of the initial patent. (3) Following the recording of the partial renunciation in the Register of Patents, the Federal Institute of Intellectual Property shall set a term for the patentee to apply for the issue of new patents according to paragraph (2); after this term, such an application shall no longer be acceptable. B. Action for Invalidation I. Grounds for Nullity Art. 26 (1) On request, the court shall declare a patent to be invalid: 1. where the subject matter of the patent is not patentable according to Articles 1 and 1a; 2. where the invention is not patentable according to Article 2; 3. where the invention is not disclosed in the patent specification in such a way that a person skilled in the art could carry it out; 3bis. where the subject matter of the patent goes beyond the content of the version of the patent application that determined the filing date; 4. [repealed]; 5. [repealed]; 6. where the patentee is neither the inventor nor his successor in title and had not acquired a right to the patent under any other title. (2) Where a patent has been granted with acknowledgment of priority, and the patent application the priority of which is claimed did not result in the grant of a patent, the court may demand that the owner of the patent indicate the reasons therefor, and produce evidence in support of those reasons; if the owner of the patent refuses to comply, the court shall have full discretion in its judgment of such refusal. II. Partial Nullity Art. 27 (1) Where only a part of the patented invention is found to be invalid, the judge shall accordingly limit the patent. (2) He shall give the parties an opportunity to be heard on the proposed new version of his claim; he may additionally request the opinion of the Federal Institute of Intellectual Property. (3) Article 25 shall apply by analogy. III. Qualification to Take Action Art. 28 Any person proving an interest may take action for invalidation; however, only the rightful owner shall be qualified to take action based on Article 26(1)6.

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