European Patent Office

T 1523/23 (Display with reduced colour shift/TOPPAN PRINTING) of 13.10.2025

European Case Law Identifier
ECLI:EP:BA:2025:T152323.20251013
Date of decision
13 October 2025
Case number
T 1523/23
Petition for review of
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Application number
17792774.6
Language of proceedings
English
Distribution
Distributed to board chairmen (C)
OJ versions
No OJ links found
Other decisions for this case
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Abstracts for this decision
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Application title
Display Body
Applicant name
Toppan Printing Co., Ltd.
Opponent name
Giesecke+Devrient Currency Technology GmbH
Board
3.4.02
Headnote
-
Relevant legal provisions
European Patent Convention Art 100(a)European Patent Convention Art 111(1)European Patent Convention Art 56Rules of procedure of the Boards of Appeal 2020 Art 011
Keywords
Grounds for opposition - lack of patentability (yes)
Inventive step - (no)
Inventive step - obvious alternative
Remittal - (yes)
Catchword
1. Holding oral proceedings before an opposition division by videoconference against the will of a party does not, as such, infringe that party's right to be heard, even in the absence of travel restrictions. Any alleged infringement must be substantiated by the specific circumstances of the individual case (see Reasons 2.1 to 2.7).
2. In the assessment of inventive step of a device, i.e. a physical artefact, advantages of the manufacturing process do not carry over to the claimed device itself. The relevant case law is that concerning product-by-process claims, not that in the field of chemistry relating to intermediate chemical compounds arising in a non-obvious chemical process (see Reasons 3.12 to 3.15).
Citing cases
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Order

For these reasons it is decided that:

1. The decision under appeal is set aside.

2. The case is remitted to the opposition division for further prosecution.