T 1423/07 (Cyclic Amine derivative/BOEHRINGER INGELHEIM VETMEDICA GmbH) vom 19.04.2010

1. In view of the fact that there are no principles of law generally recognised in the Contracting States for refusing a patent application for double patenting, refusal of a European patent application for double patenting cannot be based on Article 125 EPC.

2. If double patenting arises from internal priority, the applicant has a legitimate interest in the grant of the subsequent application claiming priority from an already granted European application with identical claims and identical Designated Contracting States in view of the fact that the filing date and not the priority date is the relevant date for calculating the 20-year term of the patent.

3. Article 60 EPC cannot be used as a basis for refusing a European patent application for double patenting either. In particular, Article 60 EPC cannot be interpreted such that the inventor or his successor in title has a right to the grant of one and only one patent from the EPO for a particular invention, with the consequence that claims comprising subject-matter included in the claims of an already granted patent of the same applicant are refused no matter whether or not the applicant has a legitimate interest in the grant of the subsequent application.