Skip to main content Skip to footer
HomeHome
 
  • Homepage
  • Searching for patents

    Patent knowledge

    Access our patent databases and search tools.

    Go to overview 

    • Overview
    • Technical information
      • Overview
      • Espacenet - patent search
      • European Publication Server
      • EP full-text search
    • Legal information
      • Overview
      • European Patent Register
      • European Patent Bulletin
      • European Case Law Identifier sitemap
      • Third-party observations
    • Business information
      • Overview
      • PATSTAT
      • IPscore
      • Technology insight reports
    • Data
      • Overview
      • Technology Intelligence Platform
      • Linked open EP data
      • Bulk data sets
      • Web services
      • Coverage, codes and statistics
    • Technology platforms
      • Overview
      • Plastics in transition
      • Water innovation
      • Space innovation
      • Technologies combatting cancer
      • Firefighting technologies
      • Clean energy technologies
      • Fighting coronavirus
    • Helpful resources
      • Overview
      • First time here?
      • Asian patent information
      • Patent information centres
      • Patent Translate
      • Patent Knowledge News
      • Business and statistics
      • Unitary Patent information in patent knowledge
    Image
    Plastics in Transition

    Technology insight report on plastic waste management

  • Applying for a patent

    Applying for a patent

    Practical information on filing and grant procedures.

    Go to overview 

    • Overview
    • European route
      • Overview
      • European Patent Guide
      • Oppositions
      • Oral proceedings
      • Appeals
      • Unitary Patent & Unified Patent Court
      • National validation
      • Request for extension/validation
    • International route (PCT)
      • Overview
      • Euro-PCT Guide – PCT procedure at the EPO
      • EPO decisions and notices
      • PCT provisions and resources
      • Extension/validation request
      • Reinforced partnership programme
      • Accelerating your PCT application
      • Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)
      • Training and events
    • National route
    • Find a professional representative
    • MyEPO services
      • Overview
      • Understand our services
      • Get access
      • File with us
      • Interact with us on your files
      • Online Filing & fee payment outages
    • Forms
      • Overview
      • Request for examination
    • Fees
      • Overview
      • European fees (EPC)
      • International fees (PCT)
      • Unitary Patent fees (UP)
      • Fee payment and refunds
      • Warning

    UP

    Find out how the Unitary Patent can enhance your IP strategy

  • Law & practice

    Law & practice

    European patent law, the Official Journal and other legal texts.

    Go to overview 

    • Overview
    • Legal texts
      • Overview
      • European Patent Convention
      • Official Journal
      • Guidelines
      • Extension / validation system
      • London Agreement
      • National law relating to the EPC
      • Unitary patent system
      • National measures relating to the Unitary Patent
    • Court practices
      • Overview
      • European Patent Judges' Symposium
    • User consultations
      • Overview
      • Ongoing consultations
      • Completed consultations
    • Substantive patent law harmonisation
      • Overview
      • The Tegernsee process
      • Group B+
    • Convergence of practice
    • Options for professional representatives
    Image
    Law and practice scales 720x237

    Keep up with key aspects of selected BoA decisions with our monthly "Abstracts of decisions”

  • News & events

    News & events

    Our latest news, podcasts and events, including the European Inventor Award.

    Go to overview 

     

    • Overview
    • News
    • Events
    • European Inventor Award
      • Overview
      • The meaning of tomorrow
      • About the award
      • Categories and prizes
      • Meet the finalists
      • Nominations
      • European Inventor Network
      • The 2024 event
    • Young Inventors Prize
      • Overview
      • About the prize
      • Nominations
      • The jury
      • The world, reimagined
    • Press centre
      • Overview
      • Patent Index and statistics
      • Search in press centre
      • Background information
      • Copyright
      • Press contacts
      • Call back form
      • Email alert service
    • Innovation and patenting in focus
      • Overview
      • Water-related technologies
      • CodeFest
      • Green tech in focus
      • Research institutes
      • Women inventors
      • Lifestyle
      • Space and satellites
      • The future of medicine
      • Materials science
      • Mobile communications
      • Biotechnology
      • Patent classification
      • Digital technologies
      • The future of manufacturing
      • Books by EPO experts
    • "Talk innovation" podcast

    Podcast

    From ideas to inventions: tune into our podcast for the latest in tech and IP

  • Learning

    Learning

    The European Patent Academy – the point of access to your learning

    Go to overview 

    • Overview
    • Learning activities and paths
      • Overview
      • Learning activities
      • Learning paths
    • EQE and EPAC
      • Overview
      • EQE - European qualifying examination
      • EPAC - European patent administration certification
      • CSP – Candidate Support Programme
    • Learning resources by area of interest
      • Overview
      • Patent granting
      • Technology transfer and dissemination
      • Patent enforcement and litigation
    • Learning resources by profile
      • Overview
      • Business and IP managers
      • EQE and EPAC Candidates
      • Judges, lawyers and prosecutors
      • National offices and IP authorities
      • Patent attorneys and paralegals
      • Universities, research centres and technology transfer centres (TTOs)
    Image
    Patent Academy catalogue

    Have a look at the extensive range of learning opportunities in the European Patent Academy training catalogue

  • About us

    About us

    Find out more about our work, values, history and vision

    Go to overview 

    • Overview
    • The EPO at a glance
    • 50 years of the EPC
      • Overview
      • Official celebrations
      • Member states’ video statements
      • 50 Leading Tech Voices
      • Athens Marathon
      • Kids’ collaborative art competition
    • Legal foundations and member states
      • Overview
      • Legal foundations
      • Member states of the European Patent Organisation
      • Extension states
      • Validation states
    • Administrative Council and subsidiary bodies
      • Overview
      • Communiqués
      • Calendar
      • Documents and publications
      • Administrative Council
    • Principles & strategy
      • Overview
      • Our mission, vision, values and corporate policy
      • Strategic Plan 2028
      • Towards a New Normal
    • Leadership & management
      • Overview
      • President António Campinos
      • Management Advisory Committee
    • Sustainability at the EPO
      • Overview
      • Environmental
      • Social
      • Governance and Financial sustainability
    • Services & activities
      • Overview
      • Our services & structure
      • Quality
      • Consulting our users
      • European and international co-operation
      • European Patent Academy
      • Chief Economist
      • Ombuds Office
      • Reporting wrongdoing
    • Observatory on Patents and Technology
      • Overview
      • Technologies
      • Innovation actors
      • Policy and funding
      • Tools
      • About the Observatory
    • Procurement
      • Overview
      • Procurement forecast
      • Doing business with the EPO
      • Procurement procedures
      • Sustainable Procurement Policy
      • About eTendering and electronic signatures
      • Procurement portal
      • Invoicing
      • General conditions
      • Archived tenders
    • Transparency portal
      • Overview
      • General
      • Human
      • Environmental
      • Organisational
      • Social and relational
      • Economic
      • Governance
    • Statistics and trends
      • Overview
      • Statistics & Trends Centre
      • Patent Index 2024
      • EPO Data Hub
      • Clarification on data sources
    • History
      • Overview
      • 1970s
      • 1980s
      • 1990s
      • 2000s
      • 2010s
      • 2020s
    • Art collection
      • Overview
      • The collection
      • Let's talk about art
      • Artists
      • Media library
      • What's on
      • Publications
      • Contact
      • Culture Space A&T 5-10
      • "Long Night"
    Image
    Patent Index 2024 keyvisual showing brightly lit up data chip, tinted in purple, bright blue

    Track the latest tech trends with our Patent Index

 
en de fr
  • Language selection
  • English
  • Deutsch
  • Français
Main navigation
  • Homepage
    • Go back
    • New to patents
  • New to patents
    • Go back
    • Your business and patents
    • Why do we have patents?
    • What's your big idea?
    • Are you ready?
    • What to expect
    • How to apply for a patent
    • Is it patentable?
    • Are you first?
    • Patent quiz
    • Unitary patent video
  • Searching for patents
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • Technical information
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Espacenet - patent search
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • National patent office databases
        • Global Patent Index (GPI)
        • Release notes
      • European Publication Server
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Release notes
        • Cross-reference index for Euro-PCT applications
        • EP authority file
        • Help
      • EP full-text search
    • Legal information
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • European Patent Register
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Release notes archive
        • Register documentation
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Deep link data coverage
          • Federated Register
          • Register events
      • European Patent Bulletin
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Download Bulletin
        • EP Bulletin search
        • Help
      • European Case Law Identifier sitemap
      • Third-party observations
    • Business information
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • PATSTAT
      • IPscore
        • Go back
        • Release notes
      • Technology insight reports
    • Data
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Technology Intelligence Platform
      • Linked open EP data
      • Bulk data sets
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Manuals
        • Sequence listings
        • National full-text data
        • European Patent Register data
        • EPO worldwide bibliographic data (DOCDB)
        • EP full-text data
        • EPO worldwide legal event data (INPADOC)
        • EP bibliographic data (EBD)
        • Boards of Appeal decisions
      • Web services
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Open Patent Services (OPS)
        • European Publication Server web service
      • Coverage, codes and statistics
        • Go back
        • Weekly updates
        • Updated regularly
    • Technology platforms
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Plastics in transition
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Plastics waste recovery
        • Plastics waste recycling
        • Alternative plastics
      • Innovation in water technologies
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Clean water
        • Protection from water
      • Space innovation
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Cosmonautics
        • Space observation
      • Technologies combatting cancer
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Prevention and early detection
        • Diagnostics
        • Therapies
        • Wellbeing and aftercare
      • Firefighting technologies
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Detection and prevention of fires
        • Fire extinguishing
        • Protective equipment
        • Post-fire restoration
      • Clean energy technologies
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Renewable energy
        • Carbon-intensive industries
        • Energy storage and other enabling technologies
      • Fighting coronavirus
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Vaccines and therapeutics
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Vaccines
          • Overview of candidate therapies for COVID-19
          • Candidate antiviral and symptomatic therapeutics
          • Nucleic acids and antibodies to fight coronavirus
        • Diagnostics and analytics
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Protein and nucleic acid assays
          • Analytical protocols
        • Informatics
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Bioinformatics
          • Healthcare informatics
        • Technologies for the new normal
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Devices, materials and equipment
          • Procedures, actions and activities
          • Digital technologies
        • Inventors against coronavirus
    • Helpful resources
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • First time here?
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Basic definitions
        • Patent classification
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC)
        • Patent families
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • DOCDB simple patent family
          • INPADOC extended patent family
        • Legal event data
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • INPADOC classification scheme
      • Asian patent information
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • China (CN)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Facts and figures
          • Grant procedure
          • Numbering system
          • Useful terms
          • Searching in databases
        • Chinese Taipei (TW)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Grant procedure
          • Numbering system
          • Useful terms
          • Searching in databases
        • India (IN)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Facts and figures
          • Grant procedure
          • Numbering system
        • Japan (JP)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Facts and figures
          • Grant procedure
          • Numbering system
          • Useful terms
          • Searching in databases
        • Korea (KR)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Facts and figures
          • Grant procedure
          • Numbering system
          • Useful terms
          • Searching in databases
        • Russian Federation (RU)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Facts and figures
          • Numbering system
          • Searching in databases
        • Useful links
      • Patent information centres (PATLIB)
      • Patent Translate
      • Patent Knowledge News
      • Business and statistics
      • Unitary Patent information in patent knowledge
  • Applying for a patent
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • European route
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • European Patent Guide
      • Oppositions
      • Oral proceedings
        • Go back
        • Oral proceedings calendar
          • Go back
          • Calendar
          • Public access to appeal proceedings
          • Public access to opposition proceedings
          • Technical guidelines
      • Appeals
      • Unitary Patent & Unified Patent Court
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Unitary Patent
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Legal framework
          • Main features
          • Applying for a Unitary Patent
          • Cost of a Unitary Patent
          • Translation and compensation
          • Start date
          • Introductory brochures
        • Unified Patent Court
      • National validation
      • Extension/validation request
    • International route
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Euro-PCT Guide
      • Entry into the European phase
      • Decisions and notices
      • PCT provisions and resources
      • Extension/validation request
      • Reinforced partnership programme
      • Accelerating your PCT application
      • Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)
        • Go back
        • Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) programme outline
      • Training and events
    • National route
    • MyEPO services
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Understand our services
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Exchange data with us using an API
          • Go back
          • Release notes
      • Get access
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Release notes
      • File with us
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • What if our online filing services are down?
        • Release notes
      • Interact with us on your files
        • Go back
        • Release notes
      • Online Filing & fee payment outages
    • Fees
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • European fees (EPC)
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Decisions and notices
      • International fees (PCT)
        • Go back
        • Reduction in fees
        • Fees for international applications
        • Decisions and notices
        • Overview
      • Unitary Patent fees (UP)
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Decisions and notices
      • Fee payment and refunds
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Payment methods
        • Getting started
        • FAQs and other documentation
        • Technical information for batch payments
        • Decisions and notices
        • Release notes
      • Warning
    • Forms
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Request for examination
    • Find a professional representative
  • Law & practice
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • Legal texts
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • European Patent Convention
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Archive
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Documentation on the EPC revision 2000
            • Go back
            • Overview
            • Diplomatic Conference for the revision of the EPC
            • Travaux préparatoires
            • New text
            • Transitional provisions
            • Implementing regulations to the EPC 2000
            • Rules relating to Fees
            • Ratifications and accessions
          • Travaux Préparatoires EPC 1973
      • Official Journal
      • Guidelines
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • EPC Guidelines
        • PCT-EPO Guidelines
        • Unitary Patent Guidelines
        • Guidelines revision cycle
        • Consultation results
        • Summary of user responses
        • Archive
      • Extension / validation system
      • London Agreement
      • National law relating to the EPC
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Archive
      • Unitary Patent system
        • Go back
        • Travaux préparatoires to UP and UPC
      • National measures relating to the Unitary Patent 
    • Court practices
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • European Patent Judges' Symposium
    • User consultations
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Ongoing consultations
      • Completed consultations
    • Substantive patent law harmonisation
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • The Tegernsee process
      • Group B+
    • Convergence of practice
    • Options for professional representatives
  • News & events
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • News
    • Events
    • European Inventor Award
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • The meaning of tomorrow
      • About the award
      • Categories and prizes
      • Meet the inventors
      • Nominations
      • European Inventor Network
        • Go back
        • 2024 activities
        • 2025 activities
        • Rules and criteria
        • FAQ
      • The 2024 event
    • Young Inventors Prize
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • About the prize
      • Nominations
      • The jury
      • The world, reimagined
      • The 2025 event
    • Press centre
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Patent Index and statistics
      • Search in press centre
      • Background information
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • European Patent Office
        • Q&A on patents related to coronavirus
        • Q&A on plant patents
      • Copyright
      • Press contacts
      • Call back form
      • Email alert service
    • In focus
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Water-related technologies
      • CodeFest
        • Go back
        • CodeFest Spring 2025 on classifying patent data for sustainable development
        • Overview
        • CodeFest 2024 on generative AI
        • CodeFest 2023 on Green Plastics
      • Green tech in focus
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • About green tech
        • Renewable energies
        • Energy transition technologies
        • Building a greener future
      • Research institutes
      • Women inventors
      • Lifestyle
      • Space and satellites
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Patents and space technologies
      • Healthcare
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Medical technologies and cancer
        • Personalised medicine
      • Materials science
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Nanotechnology
      • Mobile communications
      • Biotechnology
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Red, white or green
        • The role of the EPO
        • What is patentable?
        • Biotech inventors
      • Classification
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Nanotechnology
        • Climate change mitigation technologies
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • External partners
          • Updates on Y02 and Y04S
      • Digital technologies
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • About ICT
        • Hardware and software
        • Artificial intelligence
        • Fourth Industrial Revolution
      • Additive manufacturing
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • About AM
        • AM innovation
      • Books by EPO experts
    • Podcast
  • Learning
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • Learning activities and paths
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Learning activities: types and formats
      • Learning paths
    • EQE and EPAC
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • EQE - European Qualifying Examination
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Compendium
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Paper F
          • Paper A
          • Paper B
          • Paper C
          • Paper D
          • Pre-examination
        • Candidates successful in the European qualifying examination
        • Archive
      • EPAC - European patent administration certification
      • CSP – Candidate Support Programme
    • Learning resources by area of interest
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Patent granting
      • Technology transfer and dissemination
      • Patent enforcement and litigation
    • Learning resources by profile
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Business and IP managers
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Innovation case studies
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • SME case studies
          • Technology transfer case studies
          • High-growth technology case studies
        • Inventor's handbook
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Introduction
          • Disclosure and confidentiality
          • Novelty and prior art
          • Competition and market potential
          • Assessing the risk ahead
          • Proving the invention
          • Protecting your idea
          • Building a team and seeking funding
          • Business planning
          • Finding and approaching companies
          • Dealing with companies
        • Best of search matters
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Tools and databases
          • EPO procedures and initiatives
          • Search strategies
          • Challenges and specific topics
        • Support for high-growth technology businesses
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Business decision-makers
          • IP professionals
          • Stakeholders of the Innovation Ecosystem
      • EQE and EPAC Candidates
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Paper F brain-teasers
        • Daily D questions
        • European qualifying examination - Guide for preparation
        • EPAC
      • Judges, lawyers and prosecutors
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Compulsory licensing in Europe
        • The jurisdiction of European courts in patent disputes
      • National offices and IP authorities
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Learning material for examiners of national officers
        • Learning material for formalities officers and paralegals
      • Patent attorneys and paralegals
      • Universities, research centres and TTOs
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Modular IP Education Framework (MIPEF)
        • Pan-European Seal Young Professionals Programme
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • For students
          • For universities
            • Go back
            • Overview
            • IP education resources
            • University memberships
          • Our young professionals
          • Professional development plan
        • Academic Research Programme
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Completed research projects
          • Current research projects
        • IP Teaching Kit
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Download modules
        • Intellectual property course design manual
        • PATLIB Knowledge Transfer to Africa
          • Go back
          • The PATLIB Knowledge Transfer to Africa initiative (KT2A)
          • KT2A core activities
          • Success story: Malawi University of Science and Technology and PATLIB Birmingham
  • About us
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • The EPO at a glance
    • 50 years of the EPC
      • Go back
      • Official celebrations
      • Overview
      • Member states’ video statements
        • Go back
        • Albania
        • Austria
        • Belgium
        • Bulgaria
        • Croatia
        • Cyprus
        • Czech Republic
        • Denmark
        • Estonia
        • Finland
        • France
        • Germany
        • Greece
        • Hungary
        • Iceland
        • Ireland
        • Italy
        • Latvia
        • Liechtenstein
        • Lithuania
        • Luxembourg
        • Malta
        • Monaco
        • Montenegro
        • Netherlands
        • North Macedonia
        • Norway
        • Poland
        • Portugal
        • Romania
        • San Marino
        • Serbia
        • Slovakia
        • Slovenia
        • Spain
        • Sweden
        • Switzerland
        • Türkiye
        • United Kingdom
      • 50 Leading Tech Voices
      • Athens Marathon
      • Kids’ collaborative art competition
    • Legal foundations and member states
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Legal foundations
      • Member states
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Member states by date of accession
      • Extension states
      • Validation states
    • Administrative Council and subsidiary bodies
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Communiqués
        • Go back
        • 2024
        • Overview
        • 2023
        • 2022
        • 2021
        • 2020
        • 2019
        • 2018
        • 2017
        • 2016
        • 2015
        • 2014
        • 2013
      • Calendar
      • Documents and publications
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Select Committee documents
      • Administrative Council
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Composition
        • Representatives
        • Rules of Procedure
        • Board of Auditors
        • Secretariat
        • Council bodies
    • Principles & strategy
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Mission, vision, values & corporate policy
      • Strategic Plan 2028
        • Go back
        • Driver 1: People
        • Driver 2: Technologies
        • Driver 3: High-quality, timely products and services
        • Driver 4: Partnerships
        • Driver 5: Financial sustainability
      • Towards a New Normal
      • Data protection & privacy notice
    • Leadership & management
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • About the President
      • Management Advisory Committee
    • Sustainability at the EPO
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Environmental
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Inspiring environmental inventions
      • Social
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Inspiring social inventions
      • Governance and Financial sustainability
    • Procurement
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Procurement forecast
      • Doing business with the EPO
      • Procurement procedures
      • Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) publications
      • Sustainable Procurement Policy
      • About eTendering
      • Invoicing
      • Procurement portal
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • e-Signing contracts
      • General conditions
      • Archived tenders
    • Services & activities
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Our services & structure
      • Quality
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Foundations
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • European Patent Convention
          • Guidelines for examination
          • Our staff
        • Enabling quality
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Prior art
          • Classification
          • Tools
          • Processes
        • Products & services
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Search
          • Examination
          • Opposition
          • Continuous improvement
        • Quality through networking
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • User engagement
          • Co-operation
          • User satisfaction survey
          • Stakeholder Quality Assurance Panels
        • Patent Quality Charter
        • Quality Action Plan
        • Quality dashboard
        • Statistics
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Search
          • Examination
          • Opposition
        • Integrated management at the EPO
      • Consulting our users
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Standing Advisory Committee before the EPO (SACEPO)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Objectives
          • SACEPO and its working parties
          • Meetings
          • Single Access Portal – SACEPO Area
        • Surveys
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Detailed methodology
          • Search services
          • Examination services, final actions and publication
          • Opposition services
          • Formalities services
          • Customer services
          • Filing services
          • Key Account Management (KAM)
          • Website
          • Archive
      • Our user service charter
      • European and international co-operation
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Co-operation with member states
          • Go back
          • Overview
        • Bilateral co-operation with non-member states
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Validation system
          • Reinforced Partnership programme
        • Multilateral international co-operation with IP offices and organisations
        • Co-operation with international organisations outside the IP system
      • European Patent Academy
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Partners
      • Chief Economist
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Economic studies
      • Ombuds Office
      • Reporting wrongdoing
    • Observatory on Patents and Technology
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Technologies
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Innovation against cancer
        • Assistive robotics
        • Space technologies
      • Innovation actors
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Startups and SMEs
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Publications
        • Research universities and public research organisations
      • Policy and funding
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Financing innovation programme
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Our studies on the financing of innovation
          • EPO initiatives for patent applicants
          • Financial support for innovators in Europe
        • Patents and standards
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Publications
          • Patent standards explorer
      • Tools
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Deep Tech Finder
      • About the Observatory
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Work plan
    • Transparency portal
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • General
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Annual Review 2023
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Foreword
          • Executive summary
          • 50 years of the EPC
          • Strategic key performance indicators
          • Goal 1: Engaged and empowered
          • Goal 2: Digital transformation
          • Goal 3: Master quality
          • Goal 4: Partner for positive impact
          • Goal 5: Secure sustainability
        • Annual Review 2022
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Foreword
          • Executive summary
          • Goal 1: Engaged and empowered
          • Goal 2: Digital transformation
          • Goal 3: Master quality
          • Goal 4: Partner for positive impact
          • Goal 5: Secure sustainability
      • Human
      • Environmental
      • Organisational
      • Social and relational
      • Economic
      • Governance
    • Statistics and trends
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Statistics & Trends Centre
      • Patent Index 2024
        • Go back
        • Insight into computer technology and AI
        • Insight into clean energy technologies
        • Statistics and indicators
          • Go back
          • European patent applications
            • Go back
            • Key trend
            • Origin
            • Top 10 technical fields
              • Go back
              • Computer technology
              • Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy
              • Digital communication
              • Medical technology
              • Transport
              • Measurement
              • Biotechnology
              • Pharmaceuticals
              • Other special machines
              • Organic fine chemistry
            • All technical fields
          • Applicants
            • Go back
            • Top 50
            • Categories
            • Women inventors
          • Granted patents
            • Go back
            • Key trend
            • Origin
            • Designations
      • Data to download
      • EPO Data Hub
      • Clarification on data sources
    • History
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • 1970s
      • 1980s
      • 1990s
      • 2000s
      • 2010s
      • 2020s
    • Art collection
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • The collection
      • Let's talk about art
      • Artists
      • Media library
      • What's on
      • Publications
      • Contact
      • Culture Space A&T 5-10
        • Go back
        • Catalyst lab & Deep vision
          • Go back
          • Irene Sauter (DE)
          • AVPD (DK)
          • Jan Robert Leegte (NL)
          • Jānis Dzirnieks (LV) #1
          • Jānis Dzirnieks (LV) #2
          • Péter Szalay (HU)
          • Thomas Feuerstein (AT)
          • Tom Burr (US)
          • Wolfgang Tillmans (DE)
          • TerraPort
          • Unfinished Sculpture - Captives #1
          • Deep vision – immersive exhibition
          • Previous exhibitions
        • The European Patent Journey
        • Sustaining life. Art in the climate emergency
        • Next generation statements
        • Open storage
        • Cosmic bar
      • "Long Night"
  • Boards of Appeal
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • Decisions of the Boards of Appeal
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Recent decisions
      • Selected decisions
    • Information from the Boards of Appeal
    • Procedure
    • Oral proceedings
    • About the Boards of Appeal
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • President of the Boards of Appeal
      • Enlarged Board of Appeal
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Pending referrals (Art. 112 EPC)
        • Decisions sorted by number (Art. 112 EPC)
        • Pending petitions for review (Art. 112a EPC)
        • Decisions on petitions for review (Art. 112a EPC)
      • Technical Boards of Appeal
      • Legal Board of Appeal
      • Disciplinary Board of Appeal
      • Presidium
        • Go back
        • Overview
    • Code of Conduct
    • Business distribution scheme
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Technical boards of appeal by IPC in 2025
      • Archive
    • Annual list of cases
    • Communications
    • Annual reports
      • Go back
      • Overview
    • Publications
      • Go back
      • Abstracts of decisions
    • Case Law of the Boards of Appeal
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Archive
  • Service & support
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • Website updates
    • Availability of online services
      • Go back
      • Overview
    • FAQ
      • Go back
      • Overview
    • Publications
    • Ordering
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Patent Knowledge Products and Services
      • Terms and conditions
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Patent information products
        • Bulk data sets
        • Open Patent Services (OPS)
        • Fair use charter
    • Procedural communications
    • Useful links
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Patent offices of member states
      • Other patent offices
      • Directories of patent attorneys
      • Patent databases, registers and gazettes
      • Disclaimer
    • Contact us
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Filing options
      • Locations
    • Subscription centre
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Subscribe
      • Change preferences
      • Unsubscribe
    • Official holidays
    • Glossary
    • RSS feeds
Board of Appeals
Decisions

Recent decisions

Overview
  • 2025 decisions
  • 2024 decisions
  • 2023 decisions
  1. Home
  2. T 1632/18 (Dynamically enabling customized web content/LIVEPERSON) 21-05-2021
Facebook X Linkedin Email

T 1632/18 (Dynamically enabling customized web content/LIVEPERSON) 21-05-2021

European Case Law Identifier
ECLI:EP:BA:2021:T163218.20210521
Date of decision
21 May 2021
Case number
T 1632/18
Petition for review of
-
Application number
11717807.9
IPC class
G06F 17/30
Language of proceedings
EN
Distribution
NO DISTRIBUTION (D)

Download and more information:

Decision in EN 396.94 KB
Documentation of the appeal procedure can be found in the European Patent Register
Bibliographic information is available in:
EN
Versions
Unpublished
Application title

System and method for dynamically enabling customized web content and applications

Applicant name
Liveperson Inc.
Opponent name
-
Board
3.5.07
Headnote
-
Relevant legal provisions
European Patent Convention Art 56
Rules of procedure of the Boards of Appeal Art 12(4)
Keywords

Inventive step - main request (no)

Amended claims filed with the statement of grounds of appeal - first to fifth auxiliary requests - not admitted

Catchword
-
Cited decisions
T 0154/04
T 1178/08
T 1212/08
T 1108/10
T 1463/11
T 1420/16
T 0697/17
T 1924/17
T 2825/19
Citing decisions
T 0288/19

I. The applicant (appellant) appealed against the decision of the examining division refusing European patent application No. 11717807.9, filed as international application PCT/US2011/031239 (published as WO 2011/127049). The application claims a priority date of 7 April 2010.

II. The documents cited in the contested decision were:

D1: EP 1 840 803 A1, published on 3 October 2007;

D2: Bry, F., et al., "Realizing Business Processes with ECA Rules: Benefits, Challenges, Limits", Principles and Practice of Semantic Web Reasoning, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 4187, pp. 48-62, January 2006;

D3: Mesbah, A., et al., "A component- and push-based architectural style for AJAX applications", The Journal of Systems & Software, Elsevier, vol. 81, No. 12, December 2008, pp. 2194-2209.

III. The examining division refused the application for lack of inventive step of the subject-matter of independent claim 1 of the then pending main request and the then pending auxiliary request over the prior art disclosed in document D1. The examining division considered some of the claimed features to be non-technical aspects.

IV. In its statement setting out the grounds of appeal, the appellant requested that the decision be set aside and that a patent be granted based on a main request (corresponding to the auxiliary request considered in the contested decision - except that claims 14 and 15 had been corrected to refer to an apparatus rather than to a method) or, alternatively, one of the first to fifth auxiliary requests, all requests as submitted with the statement setting out the grounds of appeal. Moreover, the appellant filed a declaration by Efim Dimenstein, one of the inventors in the present application, concerning the inventive step of the claimed invention when compared to the prior art.

V. In a subsequently filed letter dated 16 December 2019, the appellant argued that the main request and the auxiliary requests were admissible and that the declaration did not introduce fresh issues that had not been considered by the department of first instance.

VI. In a communication under Article 15(1) RPBA 2020 accompanying the summons to oral proceedings, the board expressed, among other things, its provisional opinion that the subject-matter of claim 1 of all requests lacked inventive step in view of document D1. Additionally, the board expressed doubts about the admissibility of all auxiliary requests under Article 12(4) RPBA 2007.

VII. In a subsequently filed letter, the appellant submitted further arguments.

VIII. Oral proceedings were held as scheduled by videoconference and the appellant was heard on the relevant issues. At the end of the oral proceedings, the chairman announced the board's decision.

IX. The appellant's final requests were that the contested decision be set aside and that a patent be granted on the basis of the main request or, alternatively, one of

the first to fifth auxiliary requests, all requests as submitted with the statement setting out the grounds of appeal.

X. Claim 1 of the main request reads as follows (itemisation added by the board):

"[A] A computer-implemented method, comprising:

[B] storing a set of rules, at a custom content server, wherein a rule is associated with a condition, wherein a rule defines when to transmit customized webpage data, and wherein customized webpage data corresponds to an interaction with a webpage;

[C] receiving, at the custom content server, a request for a default tag code, wherein the request is associated with loading webpage data from a general content server on a computing device, wherein the webpage data includes original content data and a tag, wherein the tag is configured to facilitate communication between the computing device and the custom content server, wherein when the webpage data from the general content server is loaded on the computing device, the computing device displays a webpage corresponding to the original content data and the tag causes the request for the default tag code to be transmitted to the custom content server;

[D] transmitting the default tag code, wherein when the default tag code is received at the computing device, the default tag code is executed, wherein executing the default tag code generates a tag module that is stored in the computing device, wherein the default tag code includes instructions that configure the tag module to monitor an interaction with the webpage, and wherein the tag module is associated with a tag identifier;

[E] receiving behaviour data depicting interactions with the webpage, wherein the behaviour data is generated and appended to the tag identifier associated with the tag module when the tag module detects an interaction;

[F] selecting a rule from the stored set of rules, wherein selecting includes using the tag identifier, and wherein the rule defines customized webpage data;

[G] determining, based on the received behaviour data, whether the behavior data appended to the tag identifier satisfies the condition associated with the rule; and

[H] transmitting the customized webpage data when the condition associated with the rule has been satisfied."

XI. Claim 1 of the first auxiliary request differs from claim 1 of the main request in that it additionally recites the following feature at the end of feature F:

", wherein the customized webpage data includes third party code configured to store information indicative of interaction with the webpage, the information being accessible to a third party;".

XII. Claim 1 of the second auxiliary request differs from claim 1 of the main request in that it amends "a webpage" to "a first webpage" in features B and C and "the webpage" to "the first webpage" in features D and E. Moreover, it adds ", wherein the customized webpage data includes third party code configured to store information indicative of interaction with the first webpage" at the end of feature F. Finally, it adds the text "; and using, by a third party, the stored information to incorporate new content into content of a second webpage" at the end of the claim.

XIII. Claim 1 of the third auxiliary request differs from claim 1 of the main request in that it adds "and between the computing device and a content resource" after "to facilitate communication between the computing device and the custom content server" in feature C and ", the customized webpage data including a reference which, when executed by the tag module, results in the tag module downloading code from the content resource" at the end of feature F.

XIV. Claim 1 of the fourth auxiliary request differs from claim 1 of the third auxiliary request in that it also adds "and the customized webpage data including third party code configured to store information indicative of interaction with the webpage, the information being accessible to a third party" at the end of feature F as modified in the third auxiliary request.

XV. Claim 1 of the fifth auxiliary request differs from claim 1 of the second auxiliary request in that it adds "and between the computing device and a content resource" after "to facilitate communication between the computing device and the custom content server" in feature C, and replaces feature F as amended in the second auxiliary request by the following text:

"selecting a rule from the stored set of rules, wherein selecting includes using the tag identifier, and wherein the rule defines customized webpage data, the customized webpage data including a reference which, when executed by the tag module, results in the tag module downloading code from the content resource and the customized webpage data including third party code configured to store information indicative of interaction with the first webpage;".

XVI. The appellant's arguments, where relevant to the decision, are discussed in detail below.

The invention

1. The application relates to generating customised web page content based on a visitor's interactions with the web page, for example targeted advertising in web pages (description of the application as originally filed, paragraphs [0003], [0012], [0026], [0039], [0041], [0044], [0047]).

For example, a website provider of web page content can partner with a video company to incorporate video content such as advertisements into the website provider's web pages without modifying the original Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) code of the web pages (description, paragraph [0043]). A web page visitor's interactions with a website can be stored as a cookie (paragraphs [0045] to [0048]).

In one implementation, the content of a web page already includes a tag in HTML code that references (e.g. with a URL link) a JavaScript file (the "default tag code") on a custom content server different from the website's server (i.e. the general content server; paragraphs [0022], [0043]). The website provider can create rules that cause video content (i.e. the new content) to be downloaded from a custom content server and added into web page content using the tag. For example, the website provider can configure a rule so that (upon the occurrence of a condition) video code is uploaded to, and executed on, the visitor's browser, resulting in the video content being integrated into web page content without the visitor having to navigate away from the web page (paragraph [0043]).

Main request

2. Inventive step

2.1 Interpretation of claim 1

The board understands that the computing device to which claim 1 refers in feature C (for the itemisation of the claim, see above, point X.), for example, is separate from the custom content server and the general content server and is the client device used by a user for interacting with the web page.

2.2 The examining division considered document D1 to be the starting point for assessing inventive step and this was not contested by the appellant. According to the appellant, a distinguishing feature of the method according to claim 1 over document D1 is feature C. The examining division identified a different set of distinguishing features. In view of these differences of opinion, the board assesses below which features of claim 1 are disclosed by document D1.

2.3 Document D1 discloses a method of modifying a web page rendered on a client device based on user interactions with this web page and further context. The web page is modified by means of a rules engine running on a server, which may or may not be the server from which the displayed web page was requested (see D1, paragraphs [0013], [0017] to [0019], [0029], [0030], [0039], [0040]). Context refers to the context in which the requested web page will be communicated to and executed on the client device. That context can include user "properties" (e.g. security permissions, age, locale, and so forth), client device properties and communication channel properties (paragraph [0042]).

In the method disclosed in D1, a rendered web page may be modified when user-entered data is pre-processed. Pre-processing is effected whenever a user completes or at least updates designated input fields of a rendered web page on the client device, and it is triggered when the user exits those fields (e.g. by striking the tab key, mouse-clicking another field; see D1, paragraph [0050]).

In one example implementation, depicted as a flowchart in Figure 3 of document D1 and described in paragraphs [0051] and [0052], the rules engine embeds code (e.g. JavaScript) in a first instance of the web page sent to the client responsible for (i) rendering that page within the web browser, (ii) monitoring entry and/or modification of data in the input fields of that page, (iii) transmitting that user-entered data to the server digital data processor, e.g. by way of HTTP requests with embedded XML, and (iv) re-rendering the page (or a portion thereof) with information received from the server based on pre-processing of the user-entered data. When transmitting the user-entered data to the server, the embedded JavaScript code can, additionally, provide identifiers associated with the input fields that have been changed by the user.

2.4 In view of the above, the board considers that the method according to D1 already discloses most aspects of the method according to claim 1: the storage and use of a set of rules for re-generating a web page, the transmission of code (JavaScript) from a server to the client for execution by a web browser. The transmitted code in D1 has a similar functionality to the transmitted code in the claimed method in that the user input (i.e. interactions with the web page by completing an input form and the like) is monitored and the data obtained is transmitted from the client to the server, where the stored rules are used to evaluate the received interaction data to customise the web page by retransmitting modified web page data from the server to the client.

The board considers that the behaviour data, i.e. monitored user input, satisfies a condition associated with a rule if customised web page data is generated by application of a rule. It further considers that this is also a pre-condition for transmitting customised web page data.

At the oral proceedings before the board, the appellant argued that a distinguishing feature was that the tag causes a request for the default tag code to be transmitted to the custom content server. The board agrees with the appellant in this matter.

2.5 The claimed invention thus differs from the method of document D1 in the following distinguishing features:

DF1 The rules and the web page data are stored on different servers (custom content server and general content server), and the (client) computing device communicates with both servers.

DF2 The web page requested from the general content server contains a tag configured to facilitate communication between the computing device and the custom content server, the tag causing a request for the default tag code to be transmitted to the custom content server, which then receives that request.

DF3 The tag module is associated with an identifier to which the behaviour data (of the user's interaction) is appended and which is used for selecting a rule from the set of rules stored on the custom content server.

2.5.1 In its statement of grounds of appeal, the appellant submitted that the distinguishing features comprised the entire feature C of claim 1. It argued that the client communicated directly with both servers.

The board agrees that the client communicates with both servers, but does not see how the claim specifies that this communication is "direct". The claim does not exclude any indirect communication (via a proxy or one of the servers, for example). In any case, the issue of whether the communication is direct or indirect is not crucial in the assessment of inventive step in the present case. As argued by the appellant, an essential point is that the claimed method is based on the concept of providing a web page from a first server and customisation from a second server.

2.6 In its statement of grounds of appeal, the appellant argued that the technical effect was that it was simpler to install and maintain customisation of web page content. Thus, an objective technical problem to be solved could be formulated as how to provide a method for dynamically customising web page content which is simpler to install and maintain.

2.6.1 The board does not find the appellant's formulation of the objective technical problem as indicated above in point 2.6 convincing. The application itself starts from the problem that it was a challenge to constantly maintain web page code stored on content servers and that it was difficult to customise a web page based on a visitor's interaction with the web page. Furthermore, the application discloses, in paragraph [0012] of the description, that a technical problem addressed by the invention was how to customise the behaviour of a website for each individual visitor such that web page content can be modified (and/or additionally processed) without modifying the underlying code for the web page (e.g. the code stored on a content server).

However, the problem of web page customisation without modification of the underlying code of the web page is already solved by the method disclosed in document D1. Consequently, the board finds that the claimed method solves the more specific problem (see paragraphs [0043] and [0044] of the description) of how to allow a third party company (such as an advertising company) to customise the behaviour of a website (as known from document D1) for each individual visitor by incorporating third party content into web page content of a website provider.

2.7 In its written reply to the board's communication, the appellant argued that the distinguishing features provided the technical effect of reducing the load of the general content server. It considered that the board's formulation of the objective technical problem was incorrect, since the claim also covered situations in which the general content server and the custom content server were under the same administrative control. The appellant formulated the objective technical problem as how to improve the technical implementation of a method for customising websites for each individual user without modifying the underlying code for the web page. It argued that reducing the load of the general content server was technical, citing decision T 1463/11 and the Guidelines for Examination in the European Patent Office, which refer to processor load balancing as providing a further technical effect. As the prior art did not provide any pointer to the solution, the subject-matter of claim 1 was inventive.

2.8 In the circumstances of the present case, the board does not recognise the alleged effect of load reduction as a technical effect. Firstly, there is no disclosure in the application as filed regarding this effect. Secondly, the board does not consider that moving processing tasks from the general content server to the custom content server in order to bring a task under the administrative control of a third party which controls the custom content server, as in the present case, can be regarded as a technical consideration.

In this context, the board refers to decision T 2825/19, Reasons 5.3.6, which states that further technical considerations could be considerations that specifically exploit technical properties of the computer system hardware to solve a technical problem related to the internal operation of the computer system. In that decision, the board saw no support for a broad interpretation of the concept of "further technical considerations". In the present case, the board finds that any reduction of the processing load on the general content server is not the result of further technical considerations, but rather the result of administrative considerations relating to the administrative control over the third party content and the website provider content.

According to decision T 1924/17, Reasons 21.2, certain characteristics of computer-implemented methods, such as speed and efficiency, are inherent in both technical and non-technical methods. Further according to that decision, if an enhanced speed or efficiency of a claimed computer-implemented method is the result of "further" technical considerations which are adequately reflected in the claimed method, such an improvement may be considered as contributing to the solution of a technical problem and also as a technical effect of the claimed method (see also decision T 697/17, Reasons 5.2.3). This is evidently also true with respect to the load that a computer-implemented method imposes on a computer, as load can be generated by technical or non-technical programs and can be reduced (or increased) on the basis of technical or non-technical considerations. The fact that the board ruling in T 1463/11 recognised a technical effect of load reduction may be attributable to the different factual circumstances in the case underlying that decision. In view of the above, the board is not convinced by the appellant's arguments regarding a load reduction.

As regards the appellant's argument that the claim also covered situations in which the general content server and the custom content server are under the same administrative control, the board notes that the method of claim 1 is not limited to these situations. Already for this reason, the argument is not convincing.

2.9 At the oral proceedings before the board, the appellant argued that a technical effect of the claimed method was scalability, as the method was able to operate across clients. The appellant referred to the description, paragraphs [0034] and [0035], which disclosed that the claimed method supported many customers, each being associated with a unique identifier. Consequently, the claimed implementation supported scalability with respect to different customers. The appellant argued that this scalability was a technical effect within the meaning of the case law, as it was based on technical considerations (see decisions T 697/17, Reasons 5.2.3, and T 1924/17, Reasons 21.2).

2.10 The appellant then reformulated the problem, during the oral proceedings, as "how to implement a scalable computer system in which a content provider can incorporate customised web page content into general web page content of different web page providers".

2.10.1 As discussed at the oral proceedings, the board does not find any support for scalability with respect to customers in the wording of claim 1, which refers only to a single tag module, a single tag identifier and a single custom content server. At the oral proceedings, the board stated that scalability in the context of web applications was often understood to be simultaneous access by web clients that was scalable with respect to the number of clients. The appellant countered that scalability in the context of the claimed method did not relate to simultaneous access, but to scalability across clients. The board nevertheless finds that the appellant's concept of "scalability" is, in any case, merely a non-technical program functionality that is devoid of any technical character.

2.11 The appellant further argued that the centralised storage of the default tag code on the custom content server instead of a distributed storage of this code

across all clients improved memory efficiency, which was a technical effect within the meaning of decision T 1420/16, Reasons 9.5, for example.

2.11.1 Document D1 discloses adding the scripts to the web page on the server (see D1, Figure 3, reference sign 44) and distributing these scripts (code) with the web page to the client. The invention as claimed distributes the default tag code stored on the custom content server to the client. Therefore, the board does not find any improvement in memory efficiency over D1 for the method of claim 1.

2.12 As document D1 discloses the use of multiple servers, the distinguishing features amount to a different use of the computer system disclosed in D1 for a non-technical purpose (essentially provision of customised web page content by third parties).

The board is not convinced that the distinguishing features contribute to a technical effect or are based on further technical considerations. Therefore, it does not find that the distinguishing features contribute to the technical character of the claimed method. Hence, the distinguishing features are not included in the assessment of inventive step (see decision T 154/04, OJ EPO 2008, 46, point 5 (F) of the reasons: "Non-technical features, to the extent that they do not interact with the technical subject matter of the claim for solving a technical problem, i.e. non-technical features "as such", do not provide a technical contribution to the prior art and are thus ignored in assessing novelty and inventive step.").

2.13 Consequently, the method of claim 1 according to the main request lacks inventive step (Article 56 EPC).

Auxiliary requests

3. Admissibility

3.1 Appeal proceedings are not intended to be a continuation, let alone a replacement, of the first-instance proceedings. According to Article 12(4) RPBA 2007, the board has the power to hold that facts, evidence or requests which could have been presented in the first-instance proceedings are inadmissible (see decisions T 1178/08, Reasons 2.1 to 2.5; T 1212/08, Reasons 4.1 to 4.7; and T 1108/10, Reasons 3.2.1 to 3.2.5; and Case Law of the Boards of Appeal of the EPO, 9th edition 2019, V.A.4.11.4 b)).

3.2 In the proceedings before the department of first instance, the appellant had been informed of the essential reasoning for refusal of the application in the examining division's summons, in a telephone interview and also in the minutes of the interview. In the telephone interview, the then first auxiliary request, filed in response to the examining division's summons, was discussed before the oral proceedings. The appellant attended the oral proceedings, but did not file any further auxiliary requests. With its statement setting out the grounds of appeal, it filed five new auxiliary requests comprising features based on the description.

3.3 In support of admission of its auxiliary requests, the appellant argued that they were a direct response to the contested decision, as it had only then realised that these requests were needed. The features added by

the auxiliary requests were taken from main embodiments according to Figures 1 and 6, which formed key parts of the description.

The appellant argued that Article 12(4) RPBA 2007 applied to the statement setting out the grounds of appeal in the present case and permitted a limited scope of amendments. Referring to the Case Law of the Boards of Appeal of the EPO, 9th edition 2019, V.A.4.11.1, it argued that, in the present case, the auxiliary requests did not result in a "fresh case", as there was no substantial change in the scope of the proceedings; the features added by the auxiliary requests amounted to a continuation on the basis of the same arguments. Finally, according to the appellant, the Guidelines for Examination in the European Patent Office B-III, 3.5, instructed examiners to look at the main embodiments of the application.

3.4 The board, having regard to the particular circumstances of the present case, considers that the auxiliary requests could and should have been presented earlier, at the latest in the oral proceedings before the examining division.

In the present case, the board sees no reason why the appellant could only have filed the auxiliary requests in response to the contested decision, as the essential line of reasoning for this decision had been communicated earlier. The appellant was not able to indicate any particular point of the reasoning of the contested decision to which it could not have responded earlier.

As far as the features added to the auxiliary requests are concerned, the board does not find the appellant's arguments convincing: the auxiliary requests add features taken from the description that add aspects such as third party code, accessibility of information to a third party and content resources for downloading code that were not considered by the department of first instance in its decision. Thus, admitting the auxiliary requests would not allow the board to review the decision under appeal in a judicial manner (Article 12(2) RPBA 2020) but would instead mean it had to deal with a fresh case in the appeal proceedings or remit the case to the competent department of first instance. In the present case, a remittal is not justifiable under Article 11 RPBA 2020, as there are no special reasons for remitting the case.

3.5 In view of the above, the board does not admit the first to fifth auxiliary requests into the appeal proceedings (Article 12(4) RPBA 2007).

Conclusion

4. Since the sole request admitted into the appeal proceedings is not allowable, the appeal is to be dismissed.

Order

For these reasons it is decided that:

The appeal is dismissed.

Footer - Service & support
  • Service & support
    • Website updates
    • Availability of online services
    • FAQ
    • Publications
    • Procedural communications
    • Contact us
    • Subscription centre
    • Official holidays
    • Glossary
Footer - More links
  • Jobs & careers
  • Press centre
  • Single Access Portal
  • Procurement
  • Boards of Appeal
Facebook
European Patent Office
EPO Jobs
Instagram
EuropeanPatentOffice
Linkedin
European Patent Office
EPO Jobs
EPO Procurement
X (formerly Twitter)
EPOorg
EPOjobs
Youtube
TheEPO
Footer
  • Legal notice
  • Terms of use
  • Data protection and privacy
  • Accessibility