European Patent Office

T 0131/15 of 10.10.2019

European Case Law Identifier
ECLI:EP:BA:2019:T013115.20191010
Date of decision
10 October 2019
Case number
T 0131/15
Petition for review of
-
Application number
02258600.2
IPC class
G07D 7/12
Language of proceedings
English
Distribution
Distributed to board chairmen (C)
OJ versions
No OJ links found
Other decisions for this case
-
Abstracts for this decision
-
Application title
Apparatus for sensing optical characteristics of a banknote
Applicant name
Crane Payment Innovations, Inc.
Opponent name
Giesecke+Devrient Currency Technology GmbH
Board
3.4.03
Headnote
-
Keywords
Amendments - added subject-matter (no)
Amendments - broadening of claim (no)
Novelty - (yes)
Inventive step - (yes)
Catchword
See Reasons, point 5.11:
Where an expression in a granted claim, taken literally and in isolation, would have the effect of excluding all of the disclosed embodiments from the scope of protection, but where a definition of the expression may be derived from the patent itself which would locate (at least some of) the disclosed embodiments within the ambit of the claim, and provided this definition is not manifestly unreasonable, having regard to the normal meaning of the words used in the expression, then in judging compliance with the requirements of Article 123(3) EPC, the scope of protection should normally be considered to include at least that which would fall within the terms of the claim understood according to this definition.
Cited cases
G 0002/88

Order

For these reasons it is decided that:

1. The decision under appeal is set aside.

2. The case is remitted to the department of first instance with the order to maintain the patent in the following version:

- Claims 1 - 16 of Auxiliary Request 7 filed on 10 September 2019;

- Description pages 2 and 5 as filed during oral proceedings, and pages 3 and 4 of the patent specification;

- Figures 1 - 8 of the patent specification.