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
      • Searching Asian documents: patent search and monitoring services
      • EP full-text search
      • Bibliographic coverage in Espacenet and OPS
      • Full-text coverage in Espacenet and OPS
    • Legal information
      • Overview
      • European Patent Register
      • European Patent Bulletin
      • European Case Law Identifier sitemap
      • Searching Asian documents
      • Third-party observations
    • Business information
      • Overview
      • PATSTAT
      • IPscore
      • Patent insight reports
    • Data
      • Overview
      • Linked open EP data
      • Bulk data sets
      • Web services
      • Coverage, codes and statistics
    • 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

    UP search

    Learn about the Unitary Patent in patent knowledge products and services

  • 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
    • MyEPO services
      • Overview
      • Understand our services
      • Get access
      • File with us
      • Interact on your files
      • Online Filing & fee payment outages
      • Tutorials
    • Find a professional representative
    • Forms
      • Overview
      • Request for examination
    • Fees
      • Overview
      • European fees (EPC)
      • International fees (PCT)
      • Unitary Patent fees (UP)
      • Fee payment and refunds
      • Warning

    UP

    Unitary Patent

  • 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 law relating to the UP
    • 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

    legal text

    Legal texts

  • 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
      • About the award
      • Categories and prizes
      • Meet the finalists
      • Nominations
      • Watch the 2022 ceremony
    • 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
      • Firefighting technologies
      • Green tech in focus
      • CodeFest on Green Plastics
      • Clean energy technologies
      • IP and youth
      • Research institutes
      • Women inventors
      • Fighting coronavirus
      • 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

    Listen to our podcast

  • Learning

    Learning

    The e-Academy – the point of access to your learning

    Go to overview 

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

    European Patent Academy

    Boost your IP knowledge with (e-)training from the European Patent Academy

  • 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
    • Governance
      • Overview
      • Communiqués
      • Calendar
      • Documents and publications
      • Administrative Council
    • Principles & strategy
      • Overview
      • Our mission, vision, values and corporate policy
      • Public consultation on the EPO's Strategic Plan 2028
      • Towards a New Normal
    • Leadership & management
      • Overview
      • President António Campinos
      • Management Advisory Committee
    • Social responsibility
      • Overview
      • Environment and sustainability
      • Art collection
    • 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
      • About the Observatory
      • Our activities
      • Our topics
      • Our partners and networks
      • Digital library
      • Data desk
    • Procurement
      • Overview
      • Procurement forecast
      • Doing business with the EPO
      • Procurement procedures
      • 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
      • EPO Data Hub
      • Clarification on data sources
    • History
      • Overview
      • 1970s
      • 1980s
      • 1990s
      • 2000s
      • 2010s
      • 2020s

    about us

    Patent Index 2022

 
en de fr
  • Language selection
  • English
  • Deutsch
  • Français
Main navigation
  • Homepage
  • New to patents
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • What's your big idea?
    • Are you ready?
    • What to expect
    • How to apply for a patent
    • Your business and patents
    • Is it patentable?
    • Are you first?
    • Why do we have patents?
    • 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
        • Cross-reference index for Euro-PCT applications
        • EP authority file
        • Help
      • Searching Asian documents
      • EP full-text search
      • Bibliographic coverage in Espacenet and OPS
      • Full-text coverage in Espacenet
    • 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
      • Searching Asian documents
      • Third-party observations
    • Business information
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • PATSTAT
      • IPscore
        • Go back
        • Release notes
      • Patent insight reports
    • Data
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • 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)
          • Go back
          • EBD files (weekly download) - free of charge
            • Go back
            • Secure EBD ST.36 files (weekly download) - for national patent offices only
        • Boards of Appeal decisions
        • EP full-text data for text analytics
      • Web services
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Open Patent Services (OPS)
        • European Publication Server web service
      • Coverage, codes and statistics
        • Go back
        • Weekly updates
        • Updated regularly
    • Helpful resources
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • First time here? Patent information explained.
        • 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
          • Unitary Patent Guide
          • Main features
          • Applying for a Unitary Patent
          • Cost of a Unitary Patent
          • Translation and compensation
          • Start date
        • 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
        • Online Filing 2.0 pilot
        • MyEPO Portfolio - pilot phase
        • Online Filing 2.0 pilot continuation
        • Exchange data with us using an API
      • Get access
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Installation and activation
      • File with us
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • What if our online filing services are down?
        • Release notes
      • Interact on your files
      • Online Filing & fee payment outages
      • Tutorials
    • 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
      • 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
        • 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
      • 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
      • About the award
      • Categories and prizes
      • Meet the finalists
      • Nominations
      • Watch the 2023 ceremony
      • European Inventor Network
        • Go back
        • Activities granted in 2023
    • 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
      • Firefighting technologies
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Detection and prevention of fires
        • Fire extinguishing
        • Protective equipment
        • Post-fire restoration
      • Green tech in focus
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • About green tech
        • Renewable energies
        • Energy transition technologies
        • Building a greener future
      • CodeFest on Green Plastics
      • Clean energy technologies
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Renewable energy
        • Carbon-intensive industries
        • Energy storage and other enabling technologies
      • IP and youth
      • Research institutes
      • Women inventors
      • 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
      • 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
        • Patents and standards
        • Artificial intelligence
        • Fourth Industrial Revolution
      • Additive manufacturing
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • About AM
        • AM innovation
      • Books by EPO experts
    • Podcast
  • Learning
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • European Patent Academy
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Learning activities
      • Learning Paths
    • Professional hub
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • EPAC - European patent administration certification
      • EQE - European Qualifying Examination
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Archive
        • Candidates successful in the European qualifying examination
        • Compendium
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Pre-examination
          • Paper A
          • Paper B
          • Paper C
          • Paper D
    • Learning resources by area of interest
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Patent granting
      • Technology transfer and dissemination
      • Patent enforcement and litigation
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Patent enforcement in Europe
        • Patent litigation in Europe
    • 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
        • Inventors' handbook
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Introduction
          • Disclosure and confidentiality
          • Novelty and prior art
            • Go back
            • Overview
            • Is the idea ‘obvious’?
            • Prior art searching
            • Professional patent searching
            • Simple Espacenet searching
            • What is prior art?
            • Why is novelty important?
          • Competition and market potential
            • Go back
            • Overview
            • Research guidelines
          • Assessing the risk ahead
            • Go back
            • Overview
            • Exploitation routes
            • Significant commercial potential
            • Significant novelty
            • What about you?
            • What if your idea is not novel but does have commercial potential?
          • Proving the invention
            • Go back
            • Overview
            • Help with design or redesign
            • Prototype strategy
          • Protecting your idea
            • Go back
            • Overview
            • Forms of IPR
            • Patenting strategy
            • The patenting process
          • Building a team and seeking funding
            • Go back
            • Overview
            • Building a team
            • Sources of funding
            • Sources of help for invention
          • Business planning
            • Go back
            • Overview
            • Constructing a business plan
            • Keep it short!
          • Finding and approaching companies
            • Go back
            • Overview
            • First contact
            • Meetings
          • Dealing with companies
            • Go back
            • Overview
            • Advance or guaranteed payment
            • Companies and your prototype
            • Full agreement – and beyond
            • Negotiating a licensing agreement
            • Reaching agreement
            • Royalties
        • 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
          • For IP professionals
          • For business decision-makers
          • For stakeholders of the innovation ecosystem
      • EQE Candidates
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Coffee-break questions
        • Daily D questions
        • European qualifying examination - Guide for preparation
      • 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
  • 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
    • Governance
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Communiqués
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • 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
      • Towards a New Normal
      • Data protection & privacy notice
    • Leadership & management
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • About the President
      • Management Advisory Committee
    • Procurement
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Procurement forecast
      • Doing business with the EPO
      • Procurement procedures
      • About eTendering
      • Procurement portal
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • e-Signing contracts
      • Invoicing
      • 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
        • Statistics
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Search
          • Examination
          • Opposition
      • 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
          • Search services
          • Examination services, final actions and publication
          • Opposition services
          • Patent filings
            • Go back
            • Overview
            • Detailed methodology
            • Archive
          • Online Services
          • Patent information
            • Go back
            • Overview
            • Innovation process survey
          • Customer services
          • Filing services
          • Website
          • Survey on electronic invoicing
          • Companies innovating in clean and sustainable technologies
      • 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
    • Statistics and trends
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Statistics & Trends Centre
      • EPO Data Hub
      • Clarification on data sources
    • Social responsibility
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Environment
      • 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
            • aqua_forensic
            • LIMINAL
            • MaterialLab
            • Perfect Sleep
            • Proof of Work
            • TerraPort
            • Unfinished Sculpture - Captives #1
            • Deep vision – immersive exhibition
          • The European Patent Journey
          • Sustaining life. Art in the climate emergency
          • Next generation statements
          • Open storage
          • Cosmic bar
        • Lange Nacht 2023
    • History
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • 1970s
      • 1980s
      • 1990s
      • 2000s
      • 2010s
      • 2020s
    • Transparency portal
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • General
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • 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
    • Observatory on Patents and Technology
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • About the Observatory
      • Our activities
      • Our topics
      • Our partners and networks
      • Digital library
      • Data desk
  • Boards of Appeal
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • Decisions of the Boards of Appeal
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Recent decisions
      • Selected decisions
    • Procedure
    • Annual reports
      • Go back
      • Overview
    • Organisation
      • 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
        • Composition of the Presidium
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Archive
    • Code of Conduct
    • Business distribution scheme
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Technical boards of appeal by IPC in 2023
      • Archive
    • Annual list of cases
    • Communications
    • Publications
    • Case Law of the Boards of Appeal
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Archive
    • Case Law from the Contracting States to the EPC
    • Oral proceedings
  • Service & support
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • Website updates
    • Availability of online services
      • Go back
      • Overview
    • FAQ
      • Go back
      • Overview
    • Publications
    • Ordering
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • 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
      • Legal resources
      • Directories of patent attorneys
      • Patent databases, registers and gazettes
      • Disclaimer
    • Contact us
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Filing options
      • Locations
      • Specific contact
    • Subscription centre
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Subscribe
      • Change preferences
      • Unsubscribe
    • Official holidays
    • Forums
    • Glossary
    • RSS feeds
Board of Appeals
Decisions

Recent decisions

Overview
  • 2023 decisions
  • 2022 decisions
  • 2021 decisions
https://www.epo.org/en/node/t201897eu1
  1. Home
  2. T 1897/20 (Mower's turning pattern/HONDA) 11-08-2022
Facebook X Linkedin Email

T 1897/20 (Mower's turning pattern/HONDA) 11-08-2022

European Case Law Identifier
ECLI:EP:BA:2022:T189720.20220811
Date of decision
11 August 2022
Case number
T 1897/20
Petition for review of
-
Application number
16161620.6
IPC class
G05D 1/02
A01D 34/00
Language of proceedings
EN
Distribution
NO DISTRIBUTION (D)

Download and more information:

Decision in EN 399.76 KB
Documentation of the appeal procedure can be found in the European Patent Register
Bibliographic information is available in:
EN
Versions
Unpublished
Application title

Control apparatus for autonomously navigating utility vehicle

Applicant name
HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
Opponent name
-
Board
3.5.03
Headnote
-
Relevant legal provisions
European Patent Convention Art 56
Rules of procedure of the Boards of Appeal 2020 Art
Rules of procedure of the Boards of Appeal 2020 Art
Rules of procedure of the Boards of Appeal 2020 Art
Keywords

Admittance of requests filed with the appeal - main and auxiliary requests I to VI (no): fresh case

Inventive step - auxiliary requests VII and VIII (no)

Catchword
-
Cited decisions
-
Citing decisions
-

I. The examining division refused the present patent application on the grounds that the subject-matter of claim 1 of the applicant's main and first auxiliary requests did not involve an inventive step (Article 56 EPC) in view of the following prior-art documents:

D2: US 2012/0265391 A1 and

D3: US 2013/0006419 A1.

II. The applicant (appellant) appealed against this decision and requested that the decision under appeal be set aside and that a patent be granted based on the claims of a main request or auxiliary requests I to VIII submitted with the statement of grounds of appeal.

III. Oral proceedings before the board were held by videoconference on 11 August 2022.

The appellant requested that the decision under appeal be set aside and that a patent be granted on the basis of the main request or one of auxiliary requests I to VIII, all filed with the grounds of appeal. Auxiliary requests VII and VIII were the subject of the decision under appeal.

At the end of the oral proceedings, the board's decision was announced.

IV. Claim 1 of the main request reads as follows:

"An apparatus for controlling operation of an autonomously navigating utility vehicle (1) equipped with a prime mover (18) to travel about a working area (AR) delineated by a boundary wire (2) laid thereat in order to perform work autonomously,

wherein

a working region establishing unit (43) that divides the working area (AR) into multiple regions (ARn) by an imaginary boundary line (L) and establishes a preferential working region (ARa) among the divided regions in the working area (AR);

a GPS position detector (55) that produces an output indicating a position of the vehicle (1); and

a travel controlling unit (44) that controls operation of the prime mover (18) to make the vehicle (1) travel autonomously only in the preferential working region (ARa) established by the working region establishing unit (43), the travel controlling unit (44) discriminating whether the vehicle (1) has reached the imaginary boundary line (L) based on the output of the position detector (55), and when it is discriminated that the vehicle (1) has reached the imaginary boundary line (L), controlling operation of the prime mover (18) to make the vehicle (1) turn toward inside of the preferential working region (ARa),

characterized in that

the imaginary boundary line (L) establishing the preferential working region (ARa) is designated by an operator,

and that, when it is discriminated that the vehicle (1) has reached the imaginary boundary line (L), the travel direction of the vehicle (1) is detected by an output of a geomagnetic orientation sensor (54) and then, a desired turning direction of the vehicle (1) is determined."

V. Claim 1 of auxiliary request I differs from claim 1 of the main request in its last paragraph which reads as follows (amendments indicated by underlining):

"and that, when it is discriminated that the vehicle (1) has reached the imaginary boundary line (L), the travel direction of the vehicle (1) is detected by an output of a geomagnetic orientation sensor (54) of 2-axis or 3-axis structure and then, a desired turning direction of the vehicle (1) is determined."

VI. Claim 1 of auxiliary request II reads as follows:

"An apparatus for controlling operation of an autonomously navigating utility vehicle (1) equipped with a prime mover (18) to travel about a working area (AR) delineated by a boundary wire (2) laid thereat in order to perform work autonomously,

comprising:

a working region establishing unit (43) configured to divide the working area (AR) into multiple regions (ARn) with an imaginary boundary line (L) designated by an operator on an input unit (25) and configured to establish a preferential working region (ARa) among the divided regions in the working area (AR) on a working area map (MP) comprised of an array of multiple cells (2a);

a position detector (55) configured to produce an output indicating a position of the vehicle (1); and

a travel controlling unit (44) configured to control operation of the prime mover (18) to make the vehicle (1) travel autonomously in the preferential working region (ARa) established by the working region establishing unit (43), the travel controlling unit (44) being configured to discriminate whether the vehicle (1) has reached the imaginary boundary line (L) based on the output of the position detector (55), and when it is discriminated that the vehicle (1) has reached the imaginary boundary line (L), to control operation of the prime mover (18) to make the vehicle (1) turn toward inside of the preferential working region (ARa),

characterized in that

a magnetic sensor (40) is installed on the vehicle (1) and configured to produce an output indicating a magnetic field strength (H) generated by electric current passing through the boundary wire (2); and

the travel controlling unit (44) is configured to discriminate (S4, S5) whether the vehicle (1) has not reached the imaginary boundary line (L) but has reached the boundary wire (2) based on the output (H) of the magnetic sensors (51), and to control operation of the prime mover (18) to make the vehicle (1) turn (S7) toward inside of the working region (AR) when it is discriminated that the vehicle (1) has not reached the imaginary boundary line (L) (S4: NO) but has reached the boundary wire (2) (S5: YES), and to control operation of the prime mover (18) by detecting (S8) travel direction of the vehicle (1) to make the vehicle (1) turn (S9, S10) toward inside of the preferential working region (ARa) when it is discriminated that the vehicle (1) has reached the imaginary boundary line (L) (S4: YES), such that the vehicle (1) travels autonomously only in the preferential working region (ARa)."

VII. Claim 1 of auxiliary request III comprises the following amendment to the final paragraph of claim 1 of auxiliary request II:

"... determining (S9) a desired turning direction of the vehicle (1), and determining (S10) a desired turning angle for making the vehicle (1) pass through, among cells (2a) surrounding the vehicle (1), to make the vehicle (1) turn toward inside of the preferential working region (ARa) when it is discriminated that the vehicle (1) has reached the imaginary boundary line (L) (S4: YES), such that the vehicle (1) travels autonomously only in the preferential working region (ARa)."

VIII. Claim 1 of auxiliary request IV differs from claim 1 of auxiliary request III by the following features which have been inserted into the last paragraph of the claim:

"the travel controlling unit (44) is configured to discriminate (S4, S5) whether the vehicle (1) has not reached the imaginary boundary line (L) but has reached the boundary wire (2) based on the output (H) of the magnetic sensors (51), and to control operation of the prime mover (18) to make the vehicle (1) (S7) turn toward inside of the working region (AR) when it is discriminated that the vehicle (1) has not reached the imaginary boundary line (L) (S4: NO) but has reached the boundary wire (2) (S5: YES), and to control operation of the prime mover (18) by detecting (S8) travel direction of the vehicle (1) from the output of a geomagnetic orientation sensor (54), determining (S9) a desired turning direction of the vehicle (1), and determining (S10) a desired turning angle for making the vehicle (1) pass through, among cells (2a) surrounding the vehicle (1), which are a block of cells (2a1, 2a2, 2a3) inside the preferential working region (ARa) and through which the vehicle (1) has not just passed, to make the vehicle (1) turn toward inside of the preferential working region (ARa) when it is discriminated that the vehicle (1) has reached the imaginary boundary line (L) (S4: YES), such that the vehicle (1) travels autonomously only in the preferential working region (ARa)."

IX. Claim of auxiliary request V differs from claim 1 of auxiliary request III by the following features which have been inserted into the last paragraph of the claim:

"the travel controlling unit (44) is configured to discriminate (S4, S5) whether the vehicle (1) has not reached the imaginary boundary line (L) but has reached the boundary wire (2) based on the output (H) of the magnetic sensors (51), and to control operation of the prime mover (18) to make the vehicle (1) turn (S7) toward inside of the working region (AR) when it is discriminated that the vehicle (1) has not reached the imaginary boundary line (L) (S4: NO) but has reached the boundary wire (2) (S5: YES), and to control operation of the prime mover (18) by detecting (S8) travel direction of the vehicle (1) from the output of an 2-axis or 3-axis geomagnetic orientation sensor (54), determining (S9) a desired turning direction of the vehicle (1), and determining (S10) a desired turning angle for making the vehicle (1) pass through, among cells (2a) surrounding the vehicle (1) to make the vehicle (1) turn toward inside of the preferential working region (ARa) when it is discriminated that the vehicle (1) has reached the imaginary boundary line (L) (S4: YES), such that the vehicle (1) travels autonomously only in the preferential working region (ARa)."

X. Claim 1 of auxiliary request VI combines the additional features of claim 1 of auxiliary requests IV and V.

XI. Claim 1 of auxiliary request VII is worded as follows (with a numbering of features corresponding to the one used in the examining division's communication of 6 April 2020, point 3):

"An apparatus for

a. controlling operation of

1. an autonomously navigating utility vehicle (1)

equipped with

1. a prime mover (18) to travel

2. about a working area (AR) delineated by

3. a boundary wire (2) laid thereat in order to

4. perform work autonomously, comprising:

b. a working region establishing unit (43) configured

to

1. divide the working area (AR) into multiple

regions (ARn) with

2. an imaginary boundary line (L1)

1. designated by an operator on an input unit (25) and configured to

3. establish a preferential working region (ARa)

among the divided regions in the working area

(AR) on

1. a working area map (MP) comprised of

2. an array of multiple cells (2a);

c. a position detector (55) configured to

1. produce an output indicating a position of

the vehicle (1); and

d. a travel controlling unit (44) configured to

1. control operation of the prime mover (18) to

make the vehicle (1) travel autonomously in

the preferential working region (ARa)

established by the working region establishing

unit (43),

e. the travel controlling unit (44) being configured to

discriminate whether the vehicle (1) has reached the

imaginary boundary line (L1) based on the output of

the position detector (55), and

1. when it is discriminated that the vehicle (1)

has reached the imaginary boundary line (L1),

to control operation of the prime mover (18)

to make the vehicle (1) turn toward inside of

the preferential working region (ARa),

wherein

f. a magnetic sensor (40) is installed on the

vehicle (1) and configured to produce an output

indicating a magnetic field strength (H) generated

by electric current passing through the boundary

wire (2); and

g. the travel controlling unit (44) is configured to

discriminate (S4, S5) whether the vehicle (1) has

not reached the imaginary boundary line (L1) but has

reached the boundary wire (2) based on the

output (H) of the magnetic sensors (51), and to

h. control operation of the prime mover (18) to make

the vehicle (1) turn toward inside of the working

region (AR) when it is discriminated that the

vehicle (1) has not reached the imaginary boundary

line (L1) (S4:NO) but has reached the boundary

wire (2) (S5: YES),

characterized in that the travel controlling unit (44) is further configured to control operation of the prime mover by

i. detecting (S8) travel direction of the vehicle (1)

from the output of a geomagnetic orientation

sensor (54),

j. determining (S9) a desired turning direction of the

vehicle (1), and determining (S10) a desired turning

angle for

k. making the vehicle (1) pass through, one of cells

(2a1, 2a2, 2a3) inside the preferential working

region (ARa) among cells (2a) surrounding

the vehicle (1) and through which the

vehicle (1) has not just passed, when it is

discriminated that the vehicle (1) has reached the

imaginary boundary line (L1) (S4: YES), to

l. make the vehicle (1) turn toward inside of the

preferential working region (ARa) such that the

vehicle (1) travels autonomously only in the

preferential working region (ARa)."

XII. Claim 1 of auxiliary request VIII contains the following amendments to feature k of claim 1 of auxiliary request VII (board's numbering):

"k'. making the vehicle (1) pass through one of cells

(2a1, 2a2, 2a3) inside the preferential working

region (ARa) among a block of eight cells (2a)

surrounding the vehicle (1) adjacently in forward,

rearward, left, right and diagonal directions, and

through which the vehicle (1) has not just passed,

when it is discriminated that the vehicle (1) has

reached the imaginary boundary line (L1) (S4: YES),

to".

1. The application

The present application concerns a control apparatus for an autonomously navigating utility vehicle such as a lawn mower. It is known to delineate an area by a boundary wire, which may be folded back in some regions in order to exclude those regions from the working area. In that way, the working area may be regarded as consisting of multiple regions (see page 1, lines 5 to 18 of the application as originally filed).

The control apparatus of the application contains a "working region establishing unit" that divides the working area into multiple regions. An operator may define a preferential working region delimited by the imaginary boundary line among the divided regions in the working area. Using a position detector such as a GPS sensor or a geomagnetic sensor to determine the position of the vehicle, a travel controlling unit makes the vehicle travel autonomously in the preferential working region. When the vehicle has reached the imaginary boundary line, the vehicle is turned towards the inside of the preferential working region such that it stays in that region (page 1, line 20 to page 2, line 4; page 5, lines 2 to 13 and page 6, line 21 to page 7, line 1; page 8, lines 21 to 29 and page 10, line 28 to page 11, line 8).

2. Main request, auxiliary requests I to VI - admittance, Article 12(2), (4) and (6) RPBA 2020

2.1 The claims of the main request and auxiliary request I were first submitted with the statement of grounds of appeal. According to the appellant, they are based on the claims of the application as originally filed with "some formal amendments to overcome the clarity objections of the search opinion (as far as reasonable)" (see statement of grounds of appeal, point 1.1).

The claims of auxiliary requests II to VI correspond to the claims of the main request and auxiliary requests I to IV filed in the examination phase on 11 July 2019 and replaced with letter of 21 January 2020.

2.2 According to Article 12(2) RPBA 2020, in view of the primary object of the appeal proceedings to review the decision under appeal in a judicial manner, a party's appeal case shall be directed to the requests, facts, objections, arguments and evidence on which the decision under appeal was based. Furthermore, Article 12(4) RPBA 2020 states that any part of a party's appeal case which does not meet the requirements in paragraph 2 is to be regarded as an amendment, unless the party demonstrates that this part was admissibly raised and maintained in the proceedings leading to the decision under appeal. Any such amendment may be admitted only at the discretion of the board. The board shall exercise its discretion in view of, inter alia, the complexity of the amendment, the suitability of the amendment to address the issues which led to the decision under appeal, and the need for procedural economy. Further, according to Article 12(6), 2nd sentence, RPBA 2020, the board shall not admit requests, facts, objections or evidence which should have been submitted, or which were no longer maintained, in the proceedings leading to the decision under appeal, unless the circumstances of the appeal case justify their admittance.

2.3 In the present case, claims 1 of the main request and of auxiliary request I have been amended to exclude inter alia features relating to the "magnetic sensors" which were present in the corresponding claims underlying the decision under appeal.

2.4 The appellant argued in that respect that the omission of the feature relating to magnetic sensors "and others" in the independent claims of these claim requests "was reasonable" since the feature was well known in the relevant prior art and thus this feature was not necessary to delimit the claims over the prior art. In addition, the omission of the feature relating to the magnetic sensor did not present problems under Article 123(2) EPC. Substantial delimitations of the claims during the examination proceedings only led to repeated novelty and inventive step objections by the examiner.

2.5 The board is not convinced by these arguments. The omission of features that are known from the prior art is typically not suitable to overcome objections concerning inventive step. Furthermore, admitting these claims would be contrary to the requirement of procedural economy, as it would possibly make it necessary to remit the case for further examination.

2.6 Regarding auxiliary requests II to VI, the appellant argued that these requests were dealt with in the examination proceedings and that the examining division had evaluated them in the proceedings leading to the decision under appeal. In addition, they had only been superseded and not been actively withdrawn.

2.7 According to Article 12(2) RPBA 2020, it is decisive on which requests the decision under appeal was based and not for which requests an opinion of the examining division was communicated to the applicant. Effectively, there is no difference between claims being superseded or claims being actively withdrawn, because in both cases no decision is taken on these sets of claims. In the present case, the appellant requested a decision according to the state of the file based on the claim requests for which the examining division had given detailed reasons in its communication of 6 April 2020. By replacing previous versions of the claims, the applicant has thus renounced the possibility of obtaining a reasoned decision on these requests.

2.8 As a consequence, the board does not admit the main request and auxiliary requests I to VI into the appeal proceedings (Articles 12(2), (4) and (6) RPBA 2020).

3. Auxiliary request VII - inventive step, Article 56 EPC

3.1 It is common ground that document D3 may be regarded as the closest prior art with respect to the

subject-matter of claim 1 of auxiliary request VII.

3.2 Document D3 discloses an apparatus for controlling an autonomously navigating utility vehicle, which is equipped with a prime mover (see D3, paragraphs [0025] and [0038] together with figure 1). The apparatus controls the vehicle to travel autonomously about a working area 200 delineated by a boundary wire 206 (see paragraphs [0038] and [0039], figure 2). Furthermore, the apparatus comprises a working region establishing unit 112 according to the wording of claim 1 defining an imaginary boundary line and establishing a preferential working region (see paragraphs [0036], [0041] to [0043] together with figures 1 and 2). Finally, the apparatus comprises a position detector 110, a travel controlling unit 108 and a magnetic sensor 106 in the sense of claim 1 (see paragraphs [0027], [0029], [0030], [0039] and [0045] together with figure 1).

3.3 During the oral proceedings before the board, the appellant argued that D3 did not disclose an "imaginary boundary line".

The board agrees with the decision under appeal that an imaginary boundary line is implicitly disclosed in paragraphs [0042] and [0043] together with figure 2 of D3 either as designated by the operator or as a straight line connecting the different positions on which the vehicle is placed in the learning phase. Hence, D3 discloses all the features of the preamble of claim 1. However, features i to l are not disclosed by D3.

3.4 According to the decision under appeal, the objective technical problem emanating from these features was "to increase mowing efficiency". The appellant argued that the claimed subject-matter solved the technical problem of providing a utility vehicle with "improved behaviour in terms of accuracy and reliability". The board considers the appellant's formulation of the objective technical problem as being too broad. Improving a mower's behaviour in terms of accuracy and reliability, for example, includes increasing mechanical stability which is however not related to the effects brought about by the distinguishing features. However, the board accepts that when compared to the low-accuracy position sensor and the irregular mowing pattern of D3, the use of a geomagnetic orientation sensor according to feature i of claim 1, and the turning strategy according to features j to l may indeed contribute to an "increased mowing efficiency".

3.5 Document D2, which also concerns an apparatus for controlling operation of an autonomously navigating utility vehicle, discloses the use of a geomagnetic orientation sensor (see paragraphs [0090] to [0098]). As regards the "turning behaviour", it is only specified in claim 1 that the vehicle turns towards a cell "through which the vehicle has not just passed" and that it turns towards the "inside of the preferential working region". Such turning behaviour also emanates from the rules described in D2, paragraphs [0103], [0105], [0111], [0168], which require the vehicle to stay inside the working area, prevent the vehicle from leaving the confinement and keep track of completed grid points such that it is steered away from completed grid points.

3.6 The appellant argued that D3 taught away from using more sophisticated sensor devices such as a geomagnetic orientation sensor. D2 did not contain a magnetic sensor or an imaginary boundary line. Moreover, D3 only disclosed low-accuracy positioning devices (referring to paragraphs [0003] and [0029]). The turning behaviour of the utility vehicle in D3 was only disclosed as "turning inside" when it encountered the boundary.

3.7 It is correct that D3 discloses the use of a "standard low-accuracy Global Positioning System (GPS)" (see paragraph [0029]). However, the trade-offs between costs and accuracy are well known to the skilled person, who would typically employ a positioning device according to the available budget and the required accuracy. Moreover, the use of off-the-shelf geomagnetic orientation sensors is common in autonomous vehicles. In addition, a magnetic sensor and an imaginary boundary line is already disclosed in D3. Thus, the skilled person would not have seen any need to adapt these features when incorporating the geomagnetic orientation sensor into the control apparatus of D3. Actually, an "imaginary boundary line" is also disclosed in D2, paragraph [0161]. Finally, the board refers to the arguments above regarding the turning behaviour used in D2 (see point 3.5).

3.8 Hence, the board endorses the decision under appeal that the subject-matter of claim 1 of auxiliary request VII lacks an inventive step in view of D3 combined with D2 (Article 56 EPC).

4. Auxiliary request VIII - inventive step, Article 56 EPC

4.1 Claim 1 of auxiliary request VIII additionally specifies that the vehicle is supposed to pass through one of a block of eight cells surrounding the vehicle adjacently in forward, rearward, left, right and diagonal directions (i.e. feature k'; see point XII above).

4.2 The appellant argued that these amendments clarified the concept of neighbouring cells and specified the turning behaviour to a level of detail which was not disclosed or suggested in D3 or D2.

4.3 Document D2 discloses the use of grid points (see paragraphs [0103], [0105] and [0168]). It is common practice to use a cartesian grid with adjacent cells in forward, rearward, left, right and diagonal direction. The board also agrees with the examining division that it would have been obvious for the skilled person to choose square cells whose sizes match the vehicle's width to avoid leaving portions of the lawn unmowed. Considering such cells, it would have been immediately evident that, when the robot occupied one of the cells, eight neighbouring cells surrounded the robot: in front of the robot, behind, on the left, on the right and on the four diagonals. Thus, since eight cells surrounded the robot, it would indeed have been obvious that, when the robot headed to the next cell, it had to travel through one of the eight neighbouring cells. Therefore, the skilled person would have arrived at the

subject-matter of claim 1 of auxiliary request VIII by combining D3 with D2 and the skilled person's common general knowledge.

4.4 Hence, the subject-matter of claim 1 of auxiliary request VIII also lacks an inventive step in view of D3 combined with D2 and common general knowledge (Article 56 EPC).

5. It follows from the above that none of the appellant's requests is admissible or allowable and that therefore the appeal is to be dismissed.

Order

For these reasons it is decided that:

The appeal is dismissed.

Footer - Service & support
  • Service & support
    • FAQ
    • Publications
    • Procedural communications
    • Contact us
    • Subscription centre
    • Official holidays
    • Forums
    • Glossary
Footer - More links
  • Jobs & careers
  • Press centre
  • Single Access Portal
  • Procurement
  • Boards of Appeal
SoMe facebook 0
European Patent Office
EPO Jobs
SoMe instagram
EuropeanPatentOffice
SoMe linkedIn
European Patent Office
EPO Jobs
EPO Procurement
SoMe twitter
EPOorg
EPOjobs
SoMe youtube
TheEPO
Footer
  • Legal notice
  • Terms of use
  • Data protection and privacy
  • Accessibility