J 0015/86 (Withdrawal of patent application) vom 09.10.1987

1. In practice, in the operation of the European patent system there is a recognised difference between passive abandonment and active withdrawal of a European patent application. Each case in which there is a dispute as to the applicant's intention has to be considered on its own facts.

2. A written statement of the applicant or his representative must be interpreted in the context of the document as a whole and of the surrounding circumstances.

3. It is too late to ask for retraction of a letter of withdrawal once the withdrawal has been notified to the public in the European Patent Bulletin. (Legal Advice No. 8/80, OJ EPO 1986,6, point 2 referred to).

4. Principles of procedural law generally recognized in the Contracting States, within the meaning of Article 125 EPC, do not include specific rules of substantive law of any Contracting State.