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/t921019eu1
  1. Home
  2. T 1019/92 09-06-1994
Facebook X Linkedin Email

T 1019/92 09-06-1994

European Case Law Identifier
ECLI:EP:BA:1994:T101992.19940609
Date of decision
09 June 1994
Case number
T 1019/92
Petition for review of
-
Application number
86308866.2
IPC class
B60K 28/10
B60K 26/02
Language of proceedings
EN
Distribution
DISTRIBUTED TO BOARD CHAIRMEN AND MEMBERS (B)

Download and more information:

Decision in EN 789.48 KB
Documentation of the appeal procedure can be found in the European Patent Register
Bibliographic information is available in:
EN
Versions
Unpublished
Application title

Failsafe engine controller

Applicant name
General Motors Corporation
Opponent name
Robert Bosch GmbH
Board
3.2.01
Headnote
-
Relevant legal provisions
European Patent Convention Art 56 1973
European Patent Convention Art 112(1) 1973
European Patent Convention Art 114(1) 1973
European Patent Convention Art 114(2) 1973
European Patent Convention R 55(c) 1973
Keywords

Late submitted material - late filed facts - late submission of public prior use (admitted) - no abuse of procedure - absence of evidence

Notice of opposition - admissibility - objective basis - requirements - relevant date - substantiation of the grounds of opposition - sufficiency (yes)

Enlarged Board - referral (no)

Inventive step (no)

Extent to which a patent is opposed

No prior art material cited - dependent claims

Catchword

I. If an opponent requests revocation of the patent in its entirety then the fact that no specific prior art material is cited against a dependent claim does not exclude that claim from the opposition (point 2.1 of the Reasons, paragraphs 3 and 4).

II. The fact that an opponent after the end of the opposition period subsequently submits prior art material originating from himself does not constitute an abuse of the proceedings in the absence of evidence that this was done deliberately for tactical reasons (see point 2.2 of the Reasons).

Cited decisions
G 0009/91
T 0156/84
T 0534/89
T 0017/91
Citing decisions
T 1034/01
T 1182/01
T 0671/03
T 0938/03
T 0562/04
T 0927/04
T 0148/05
T 0151/05
T 0158/14
T 1193/21
T 0481/99
T 0361/06
T 1553/07

I. European patent No. 0 230 722 was granted on 14 March 1990 in the basis of European patent application No. 86 308 866.2.

Claim 1 of the granted patent reads as follows:

"An engine controller for an internal combustion engine (10) having an intake space into which air and fuel are supplied, comprising an accelerator pedal (12) biased to an engine idle position and operable to an engine off- idle position in response to a force applied thereto; and position sensing means (18) for sensing the position of the accelerator pedal; characterised by force sensing means (20,34) for sensing the force applied to the accelerator pedal; and responsive means (26,28,30,36,38) responsive to the force applied to the accelerator pedal sensed by the force sensing means for supplying an air and fuel mixture to the internal combustion engine in accordance the the accelerator pedal position sensed by the position sensing means when the force applied to the accelerator pedal is greater than zero, and in accordance with an engine idle schedule when the force applied to the accelerator pedal is zero, whereby the engine operation is maintained at idle when the force applied to the accelerator pedal is zero even through the accelerator pedal position remains in an off-idle position."

Dependent Claim 2 relates to a preferred embodiment of the engine controller according to Claim 1.

II. The patent was opposed by the Respondents on the grounds that its subject-matter lacked inventive step (Articles 100(a) and 56 EPC). In the Notice of Opposition the following documents were referred to as state of the art:

(D1) EP-A-0 106 011

(D2) EP-A-0 121 937

(D3) DE-B-2 062 965

(D4) US-A-4 393 833

(D5) US-A-4 509 478

III. After the issue of a communication by the Opposition Division dated 18 October 1991, indicating its provisional conclusion that the subject-matter of granted Claim 1 could not be derived in an obvious manner from the cited state of the art, the Respondents referred in a letter dated 16 December 1991 to a further state of the art document, viz:

(D6) Gerhard Kolberg: "Elektronische Motorleistungs- steuerung für Omnibusse", Verkehr und Technik 1984, Heft 4, pages 121 to 125.

Thereafter, on 29 May 1992, the Opposition Division issued a further communication indicating the provisional conclusion that the subject-matter of granted Claim 1 lacked inventive step having regard to documents D1 and D6 and that accordingly revocation of the patent was to be expected. After the Appellants (Proprietors of the patent) had made a detailed reply to this communication in a letter dated 6 July 1992, the Opposition Division revoked the patent with its decision dated 15 October 1992, the reasons given corresponding to those contained in the communication of 29 May 1992.

IV. An appeal against this decision was filed on 13 November 1992 and the appeal fee filed on the same day. The Statement of Grounds of Appeal was received on 18. January 1993.

V. Oral proceedings before the Board were held on 9 June 1994.

At the oral proceedings the Appellants submitted the following requests:

(A) Setting aside of the contested decision and maintenance of the patent in unamended form. (Main request)

(B) First auxiliary request: Maintenance of the patent in amended form on the basis of Claims 1 and 2 according to Appendix 3 filed with the Statement of Grounds of Appeal.

(C) Second auxiliary request: Maintenance of the patent in amended form on the basis of the single claim according to Appendix 5 filed on 4 May 1994, as amended during oral proceedings.

(D) The referral of the following question to the Enlarged Board of Appeal:

"When new prior art is filed outside the opposition period by an Opponent, but was known to the Opponent before the end of the opposition period, what right does the Opposition Division have to use its power under Article 114(1) in preference to its power under Article 114(2)."

(E) Refund of the appeal fee.

The Respondents requested that the appeal be dismissed.

VI. Claim 1 according to the first auxiliary request reads as follows:

"An engine controller for an internal combustion engine (10) having an intake space into which air and fuel are supplied, comprising an accelerator pedal (12) biased to an engine idle position and operable to an engine off- idle position in response to a force applied thereto; and position sensing means (18) for sensing the position of the accelerator pedal; characterised by force sensing means (20,34) for sensing the force applied to the accelerator pedal; and responsive means (26,28,30,36,38) for supplying an air and fuel mixture to the internal combustion engine in accordance with the accelerator pedal position sensed by the position sensing means and comprising fuel supply means (26) responsive to the force applied to the accelerator pedal (12) as sensed by the force sensing means (20,34) for supplying fuel to the intake space in accordance with the accelerator pedal position sensed by the position sensing means (18) when the sensed force is greater than zero or for supplying an idle fuel quantity to the intake space when the sensed force is zero, whereby the engine operation is maintained at idle when the sensed force is zero even though the accelerator pedal position remains in an off- idle position."

The single claim according to the second auxiliary request reads as follows:

"An engine controller for an internal combustion engine (10) having an intake space into which air and fuel are supplied, comprising an accelerator pedal (12) biased to an engine idle position and operable to an engine off- idle position in response to a force applied thereto; responsive means (28) comprising air supply means including a variable position throttle blade (24) operable to regulate the air flow into the intake space, and throttle positioning means (30,36,38) responsive to the fuel supplied to the intake space for positioning the throttle blade to a position at which the air flow into the intake space results in a desired air and fuel ratio; and position sensing means (18) for sensing the position of the accelerator pedal; characterised by force sensing means (20,34) for sensing the force applied to the accelerator pedal; and in that the responsive means (26,28,30,36,38) supplies the air and fuel mixture to the internal combustion engine in accordance with the accelerator pedal position sensed by the position sensing means and further comprises fuel supply means (26) responsive to the force applied to the accelerator pedal (12) as sensed by the force sensing means (20,34) for supplying fuel to the intake space in accordance with the accelerator pedal position sensed by the position sensing means (18) when the sensed force is greater than zero or for supplying an idle fuel quantity to the intake space when the sensed force is zero, whereby the engine operation is maintained at idle when the sensed force is zero even though the accelerator pedal position remains in an off-idle position."

VII. In support of their requests the Appellants argued substantially as follows:

The Opposition Division had erred in admitting document D6 into the proceedings. The author of this document was an employee of the Respondents so they must have been aware of it at the time of filing the opposition and its late submission, for which they had given no reason, therefore constituted an abuse of the procedure. The situation was therefore comparable to that dealt with in decision T 17/91 and T 534/89 (Headnotes published in OJ EPO 1993/09). Furthermore, the failure of the Respondents to name this document in their Notice of Opposition meant that they had not met the requirements of Rule 55(c) EPC, so that the opposition should have been rejected as inadmissible.

The question of whether late-filed material known to an Opponent at the time of filing an opposition could subsequently be admitted into the proceedings was an important point of law requiring clarification and should therefore be referred to the Enlarged Board of Appeal.

In any case, even if document D6 were admitted into the proceedings, then a combination of its teachings with those of document D1 could not lead to the subject- matter of granted Claim 1. The latter document did not concern the problem of a stuck accelerator pedal and the pedal switch shown there did not constitute "force sensing means" as required by the claim. Furthermore, if a fault were detected then the engine was fully disabled and not returned to idle operation. According to document D6, a stuck accelerator pedal was not detected by force sensing means when the fault occurred and instead was only inferred subsequently if the brake and accelerator pedal were both detected as being depressed at the same time. The claimed invention provided a simple and effective solution which was not comparable to the complex and potentially unreliable switching arrangement shown in document D1 or to the less than fully failsafe proposal of document D6.

Claim 1 of the first auxiliary request and the single claim of the second auxiliary request contained further features derived from, or in the latter case all of the features, of granted Claim 2. This claim had not been opposed so that having regard to the decision of Enlarged Board of Appeal G 9/91 (OJ EPO 1993, 408) the respective claims of the auxiliary requests were not open to examination of their patentability. In this context the Opposition Division had again erred in revoking the patent as a whole rather than maintaining it on the basis of granted Claim 2.

In view of the procedural violations committed by the Opposition Division refund of the appeal fee was justified.

VIII. In reply the Respondents put forward in essence the following arguments:

The Notice of Opposition clearly met the requirements of Rule 55(c) EPC and there could be no doubt that the opposition was admissible. Furthermore, the opposition was explicitly directed against the patent in its entirety. The fact that no specific document was cited against dependent Claim 2 but instead reference made to the trivial nature of its features was wholly justified in the circumstances since those features were in fact stated as being known in the patent specification itself.

The skilled man would immediately recognise that the proposal of document D1 would cope with the problem of a stuck accelerator pedal. The pedal switch disclosed there was either open or closed depending on the force exerted on the pedal and the engine controller was responsive to this switch to give normal engine operation or to shut the engine down accordingly. The pedal switch therefore constituted "force sensing means" within the meaning of granted Claim 1. It was well known in the relevant art, as witnessed by document D6, that it was preferable to return the engine to idle operation rather than shutting it down completely in the event of a fault. The adaption of the engine controller of document D1 in this way could not therefore be seen as involving an inventive step.

1. The appeal complies with the requirements of Articles 106 to 108 and Rules 1(1) and 64 EPC. It is therefore admissible.

2. Procedural issues

2.1. The question of whether a Notice of Opposition fulfils the requirement of Rule 55(c) EPC that it indicate the facts, evidence and arguments presented in support of the grounds on which the opposition is based is an objective one which has to be judged at the date of filing or (if the notice is amended) at the expiry of the nine month opposition period. Thus even if, as here, an Opponent subsequently relies upon prior art material not mentioned in the Notice of Opposition to support his line of argument this cannot render that Notice of Opposition inadmissible if at the relevant date it complied on an objective basis with the requirement stated above.

In the present case the Notice of Opposition contains a comprehensively argued statement to the effect that the subject-matter of granted Claim 1 lacks inventive step with respect to documents D1 and D5, so that the requirements of Rule 55(c) EPC in this respect was clearly met.

The further requirement of Rule 55(c) EPC that the Notice of Opposition state the extent to which the patent is opposed is also met in the present case by the explicit request that the patent be revoked in its entirety. The fact that the argumentation with respect to the substantive merits of dependent Claim 2 is restricted to the somewhat cursory statement that this contains for the skilled man nothing of a surprising nature which could justify the patentability of the subject-matter of the patent cannot mean, as contended by the Appellants, that the opposition had only effectively been brought against Claim 1, since the intended meaning of the statement, i.e. that taking into account the prior art already cited against Claim 1 and the general knowledge of the skilled man then the subject-matter of Claim 2 also lacked inventive step, is abundantly clear in the circumstances.

As a consequence, the further contention of the Appellants that taking into account the findings of decision G 9/91 (supra), which considered the situation where some subject-matter had been deliberately excluded from an opposition, the Opposition Division in the present case had erred by not maintaining the contested patent on the basis of Claim 2 instead of revoking it in its entirety, is not supported by the facts. In any case, it has to be noted in this respect that at no point during the opposition proceedings did the Appellants actually request maintenance of the patent in amended form or in any way indicate that this would be acceptable to them.

2.2. The question of the admittance of late-filed material into opposition proceedings and the relationship between Articles 114(1) and 114(2) EPC has generated a considerable volume of jurisprudence, see the compendium "Case Law of the Boards of Appeal of the EPO 1987-1992", issued by the EPO, pages 105 ff. Following the landmark case T 156/84 (OJ EPO 1988, 372) the general principle which has been developed is that the most important criterion to be taken into account when considering whether such late-filed material should be disregarded is its "relevance" or "evidential weight" in comparison with that already on the file. Other considerations which can also play a decisive role are the degree of lateness and whether the late filing can be seen as representing an abuse of the proceedings, see decisions T 534/89 and T 17/91 (supra).

The Appellants argue that decision T 156/84 is only referring to material which has been "found late" by the relevant party. The Board assumes that they are referring in this respect to what is said in point 3.7, second paragraph, of the Reasons, which is the only passage in which the term "found late" occurs. However, that passage is concerned with a comparison of the position of an opponent and a third party under Article 115 EPC and the use in it of the term "found late" cannot be seen as having been intended to set up a special category of late-filed material, the general principles elucidated in the Reasons only being applicable to this category. That this is the case is apparent from point 3.12 of the decision where it is stated that "too strict a standard should not be set when a decision is taken on whether to admit citations submitted outside the opposition period".

In the present case document D6 was first cited by the Respondents in reply to the communication of the Opposition Division dated 18 October 1991 indicating the provisional opinion that Claim 1 could not be derived in an obvious manner from the state of the art cited in the Notice of Opposition. Since the author of document D6 was an employee of the Respondents it can be reasonably assumed that a full and diligent search of the prior art available to the Respondents should have revealed document D6. It therefore qualifies as late-filed. There can, however, be no suggestion that document D6 was consciously known to the Respondents at the time of drafting the Notice of Opposition and that for tactical reasons a deliberate decision was taken not to cite it at that time. This constrasts to the situations found to exist in decisions T 534/89 and T 17/91 where the late submission of alleged prior uses was seen as representing an abuse of the proceedings with the consequence of their being disregarded irrespective of their relevance.

The Board cannot therefore accept the proposition of the Appellants, which incidentally has only been argued in the appeal proceedings and not before the Opposition Division itself, that document D6 should not have been admitted into the proceedings by the Opposition Division and that its admittance constituted a procedural error on its part. Furthermore, once the Opposition Division had formed the view that in the light of this document its previously expressed positive opinion with respect to inventive step could no longer be sustained, the way in which it continued the procedure with the issue of a comprehensively argued communication dated 29 May 1992 before eventual revocation of the patent cannot be faulted.

2.3. As far as the request of the Appellants for the referral of a question to the Enlarged Board of Appeal is concerned (see section V. D above), the situation envisaged in it, i.e. that late-filed prior art was "known" to an Opponent before the end of the opposition period, has not been demonstrated as obtaining in the present case (see point 2.2 above) and therefore does not need to be decided here. Accordingly this request must be refused (Article 112(1)(a) EPC).

3. Novelty and inventive step

3.1. Main request

The claimed invention relates to what is generally termed in the art a "drive-by-wire" engine controller. The general principles of operation of these controllers are well known and substantially as follows: The mechanical linkage between the accelerator pedal and the engine is dispensed with. Instead, the position of the pedal is sensed electrically, for example by a potentiometer, and a control computer determines the air and fuel mixture supply to the engine on the basis of the sensed pedal position and other variables such as temperature and engine speed. When the pedal is in its normal non-depressed position the air and fuel mixture is supplied according to an idle schedule.

It is known for example from document D4 to monitor the engine controller for a throttle blade stuck in an open position by comparing the position of the throttle blade and the accelerator pedal, and to take remedial action such as engine shutdown or closure of the throttle blade if the throttle stays open for a predetermined time after the pedal returns to an idle position.

However, if the accelerator pedal were to stick in an off-idle position even though force was removed from it then the system of document D4 would not register a fault since the throttle blade and pedal positions would properly correspond and no remedial action would be taken. The technical problem which is addressed by the claimed invention is therefore to provide failsafe operation of the engine controller in the event of the accelerator pedal sticking.

In order to solve this problem the engine controller according to granted Claim 1 comprises means for sensing the force applied to the accelerator pedal. If this force is greater than zero then the air and fuel mixture is supplied to the engine in accordance with the sensed pedal position. If on the other hand the force is zero then the air and fuel mixture is supplied in accordance with the engine idle schedule even though the accelerator pedal may be in an off-idle position.

The novelty of the subject-matter of granted Claim 1 has not been at issue during either the opposition or appeal proceedings. In particular, none of the cited documents discloses pedal force sensing means to which the air and fuel mixture supply is responsive in the way explained above.

However, the concept of providing means for detecting when the accelerator pedal is in an off-idle position even though no force is applied to it and of taking appropriate remedial action is known from document D1. This document does not specially address the problem of failsafe operation in the case of a "stuck" accelerator pedal and instead gives as an example of the type of fault condition to be dealt with the situation where the return spring of the accelerator pedal is broken. The skilled man, however, has no difficulty in recognising that the underlying technical considerations are essentially equivalent in both cases, that is that the pedal is in an off-idle position although no force is applied to it, and that the system of document D1 will accordingly also provide failsafe operation in the event of the pedal being stuck.

As described in document D1 the accelerator pedal comprises two relatively pivotable parts which are urged apart by a spring with a switch being arranged between the parts so that the switch will be closed when force is applied to the pedal. The Appellants have argued that this switch arrangement does not constitute "force sensing means" within the meaning of Claim 1. The Board can, however, not support that view. It is evident that the switch monitors the presence or absence of force on the pedal and the condition of the switch determines the behaviour of the engine controller. It is noted in this respect that although the form of force sensor (a resistive strain gauge) particularly described in the patent specification will have an output quantitively related to the pedal force, the absolute value of that force plays no role in determing how the engine controller functions. All that is significant is whether the force is greater than or equal to zero, as is the case in document D1.

Where the proposal of document D1 does however differ from the claimed subject-matter is that in the prior art sensed zero force on the pedal with this in an off-idle position will lead to shutdown of the engine, either by switching off the ignition or interrupting the fuel supply. It is in this respect that the relevance of document D6 becomes apparent. This document relates to a "drive-by-wire" engine controller for an omnibus. In point 3.1 of this document the importance of failsafe operation is emphasised and it is stated there that generally in the event of a detected fault the engine is returned to idle operation, the only exceptions being when the fuel injection volume control member is blocked or when the position monitoring system for this member is defective. In point 5.4.1 it is then described how the condition of an accelerator pedal in a blocked off- idle position is recognised if a substantial off-idle signal and a brake signal are received simultaneously the fuel injection volume control member being adjusted accordingly. It is evident that return of the engine to idle operation as proposed in document D6 is generally advantageous to completely disabling the engine as proposed in document D1 since this enables a certain residual manoeuvrability of the associated vehicle. Thus in view of the teachings of document D6 it has to be seen as an obvious measure for the skilled man to adapt the engine controller of document D1 in such a way that when the force sensing means detects zero force on the accelerator pedal even though this is in an off-idle position then the air and fuel mixture is supplied according to the engine idle schedule. Accordingly the subject-matter of granted Claim 1 lacks inventive step (Articles 52(1) and 56 EPC).

3.2. Auxiliary requests

Claim 1 according to the first auxiliary request includes some, and the single claim according to the second auxiliary request all, of the features of granted dependent Claim 2. That claim, in comparison with granted Claim 1, contains further details of how the engine controller functions. It specifies that it is the quantity of fuel supplied which is determined in accordance with the sensed pedal position and that the air supply means, including a variable position throttle blade and throttle positioning means, regulates the air flow in accordance with the quantity of fuel supplied. This basic set up of a "drive-by-wire" engine controller is, as stated in the introductory description of the patent specification, well known per se, see for example document D5. The alternative set up, also mentioned in the patent specification, is where the air flow is determined in accordance with the sensed pedal position and the quantity of fuel regulated accordingly, which is how the engine controller of document D1 functions. Clearly, the concept of using acceleraor pedal force sensing means for detecting when the pedal is off-idle even though no force is applied to it is equally applicable to both of the basic set ups mentioned above. Thus the respective claims of both auxiliary requests can also not be seen as involving an inventive step. In this respect it must be noted that the Appellants did not argue to the substantive merits of these claims but instead relied in essence on their contention that, having regard to decision G 9/91, they should be allowed without further examination. This question has been dealt with in point 2.1 above.

4. Refund of the appeal fee

Since the appeal has not met with success the request for refund of the appeal fee must be refused (Rule 67 EPC). In any case it is apparent from what is said in points 2.1 and 2.2 above that the procedure before the Opposition Division was not flawed in any way which could have justified the requested refund.

Order

ORDER

For these reasons, it is decided that:

1. The appeal is dismissed.

2. The requests for refund of the appeal fee and for referral of a question to the Enlarged Board of Appeal are rejected.

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