T 0237/96 of 22.04.1998
- European Case Law Identifier
- ECLI:EP:BA:1998:T023796.19980422
- Date of decision
- 22 April 1998
- Case number
- T 0237/96
- Petition for review of
- -
- Application number
- 89108768.6
- IPC class
- G03G 15/00
- Language of proceedings
- English
- Distribution
- Distributed to board chairmen and members (B)
- Download
- Decision in English
- OJ versions
- No OJ links found
- Other decisions for this case
- -
- Abstracts for this decision
- -
- Application title
- Image forming apparatus with transfer material separating means
- Applicant name
- Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
- Opponent name
- -
- Board
- 3.4.02
- Headnote
- -
- Relevant legal provisions
- European Patent Convention Art 113(2) 1973European Patent Convention R 67 1973European Patent Convention R 86(3) 1973
- Keywords
- Refusal by Examining Division to consent to late amendment (justified) reimbursement of appeal fees (no)
- Catchword
- The broadening of the scope of claim 1 requested by the applicant after receipt of the Examining Division's communication under Rule 51(4) EPC so as to encompass one originally disclosed embodiment was not consistent with his previous submission that said embodiment was not part of the invention, raised new issues as to clarity and inventive step and was not supported by any argumentation in favour of the allowability of the amendment claim: the Examining Division in refusing to consent to the amendment under Rule 86(3) EPC was not considered in the circumstances to have exercised its discretion in a wrong or unreasonable manner.
The Board gave its consent to an amendment consisting essentially in the addition of a single independent claim specifically directed to said originally disclosed embodiment, filed together with a detailed and convincing argumentation in favour of inventive step in view of the citations in the Search Report.
ORDER
For these reasons it is decided that:
The case is remitted to the first instance with the order to grant a patent with the following version:
Description and drawings:
as indicated in the Examining Division's communication under Rule 51(4) EPC dated 27 April 1994, with the amendment consisting in replacing the expression "claim 1" on page 6a, line 2 of the description by the expression "independent claims 1 and 15, respectively".
Claims:
1. to 15 as submitted with appellant's letter dated 24 March 1998.