T 0066/85 (Connector) vom 09.12.1987

1. If a technical feature is deleted from a claim in the course of prosecution of a European patent application in order not to exclude from protection certain embodiments of the invention, the broadening of the claim does not contravene Article 123(2) EPC as long as there is a basis for a claim lacking this feature in the application as originally filed. It is immaterial whether or not the feature in question is relevant to the inventive concept of the claimed subject-matter.

2. When certain embodiments of an invention, which would be included in the scope of a claim by broadening its terms (e.g. by deleting a technical feature from the claim), are disclosed solely in the drawings as originally filed such broadening does not contravene Article 123(2) EPC if the person skilled in the art can clearly and unambiguously recognise these embodiments from the drawings.