T 1523/23 (Display with reduced colour shift/TOPPAN PRINTING) vom 13.10.2025

Grounds for opposition - lack of patentability (yes)
Inventive step - (no)
Inventive step - obvious alternative
Remittal - (yes)

1. Holding oral proceedings before an opposition division by videoconference against the will of a party does not, as such, infringe that party's right to be heard, even in the absence of travel restrictions. Any alleged infringement must be substantiated by the specific circumstances of the individual case (see Reasons 2.1 to 2.7).
2. In the assessment of inventive step of a device, i.e. a physical artefact, advantages of the manufacturing process do not carry over to the claimed device itself. The relevant case law is that concerning product-by-process claims, not that in the field of chemistry relating to intermediate chemical compounds arising in a non-obvious chemical process (see Reasons 3.12 to 3.15).