European Patent Office

T 0004/83 (Purification of sulphonic acids) of 16.03.1983

European Case Law Identifier
ECLI:EP:BA:1983:T000483.19830316
Date of decision
16 March 1983
Case number
T 0004/83
Petition for review of
-
Application number
78300810.5
IPC class
-
Language of proceedings
English
Distribution
Published in the EPO's Official Journal (A)
Other decisions for this case
-
Abstracts for this decision
-
Application title
-
Applicant name
Exxon
Opponent name
-
Board
3.3.01
Headnote

Where an invention concerns an improvement in a known purification process, a test described in that connection which serves to confirm the desired result of the purification process does not make obvious the incorporation of the known features of the said test as a final step in the purification process, if the relevant disclosure is confined to the test procedure and gives no pointer to the claimed solution of the problem.

Keywords
Inventive step - improvement, known process
Test procedure not integral part of a process
Catchword
-
Cited cases
-

ORDER

For these reasons, it is decided that:

1. The decision of the Examining Division of the European Patent Office dated 4 August 1982 is set aside.

2. The case is remitted to the first instance with the order to grant a European patent on the basis of the following documents: