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VII.E.17. Reimbursement of appeal fees
Under the EPC 2000, R. 103 EPC has replaced R. 67 EPC 1973 as the basic provision dealing with the reimbursement of appeal fees. That part of R. 67 EPC 1973 providing that the reimbursement of appeal fees should be ordered in the event of interlocutory revision or where the board of appeal deems an appeal allowable, if such reimbursement is equitable by reason of a substantial procedural violation has been transferred to R. 103(1)(a) EPC.
Furthermore, R. 103(1)(b) EPC goes some way towards compensating for the lack of a cross-appeal facility. Appeals filed as a precaution – in case the other party appeals – can be withdrawn if the other party does not file an appeal, at an early stage of the proceedings, during the period between the expiry of the respective periods for filing the notice of appeal and filing the statement of grounds of appeal, i.e. before any great expense or effort on the part of the parties or the EPO. New R. 103(2) EPC governs the competence of the department of first instance and of the board of appeal in the matter of the reimbursement of the appeal fee and codifies the case law of the Legal Board of Appeal (J 32/95, OJ 1999, 713).
This chapter essentially reports on developments resulting from decisions given while R. 67 EPC 1973 still applied. For the rules formally applicable to patent applications pending on the date of entry into force of the EPC 2000, see J 10/07 (OJ 2008, 567), T 2052/08 and also for example T 1039/04, T 1544/06, T 1006/04, T 630/08, T 616/08.