T 0611/90 (Fresh Case) vom 21.02.1991

1. Under Article 106(1) EPC, appeals lie from decisions rather than from the grounds of such decisions. Apart from other deficiencies, an appeal raising a case entirely different from that on which the decision under appeal was based is still admissible if it is based on the same opposition ground (point 2 of the Reasons).

2. If there is such an entirely different case, it may, subject to the other circumstances of the case, be inappropriate for an Appeal Board to deal itself with its allowability. The public's and the parties' interest in having the proceedings speedily concluded may then be overridden by the requirement that appeal proceedings should not become a mere continuation of first- instance proceedings (point 3 of the Reasons).

3. In the absence of strong mitigating circumstances for the late filing of such a fresh case, the late-filing party should bear all the additional costs incurred by his tardiness (point 5 of the Reasons).