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Decision of the Administrative Council of 13 December 2001 amending Rule 29(2) EPC CA/128/01
THE ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN PATENT ORGANISATION,Having regard to the European Patent Convention (EPC), and in particular Article 33(1)(b) thereof,
On a proposal from the President of the European Patent Office,
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Patent Law,
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
Article 1
Rule 29(2) EPC shall be amended to read as follows:
"(2) Without prejudice to Article 82, a European patent application may contain more than one independent claim in the same category (product, process, apparatus or use) only if the subject-matter of the application involves one of the following:
(a) a plurality of inter-related products;
(b) different uses of a product or apparatus;
(c) alternative solutions to a particular problem, where it is not appropriate to cover these alternatives by a single claim."
Article 2
Rule 29(2) EPC as amended by this decision shall enter into force on 2 January 2002 and shall apply to all European patent applications in respect of which a communication under Rule 51(4) EPC has not yet been despatched by that date.
Done at Munich, 13 December 2001
For the Administrative Council
The Chairman
Roland GROSSENBACHER