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
      • EPC Guidelines
      • PCT-EPO Guidelines
      • Guidelines revision cycle
      • 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
      • A glimpse of the planned activities
      • Kids’ collaborative art competition
      • 50 Leading Tech Voices
    • Legal foundations and member states
      • Overview
      • Legal foundations
      • Member states of the European Patent Organisation
      • Extension states
      • Validation states
    • Governance
      • Overview
      • Communiqués
      • Calendar
      • Select Committee documents
      • 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
    • 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
            • Go back
            • Overview
            • BG - Federated Register Service
            • GB - Federated Register Service
            • NL - Federated Register Service
            • MK - Federated Register Service
            • ES - Federated Register Service
            • GR - Federated Register Service
            • SK - Federated Register Service
            • FR - Federated Register Service
            • MT - Federated Register Service
          • 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
      • 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
      • EPC Guidelines
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Archive
      • PCT-EPO Guidelines
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Archive
      • Guidelines revision cycle
      • 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
        • IP clinics
      • 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
        • Academic Research Programme
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Completed research projects
          • Current research projects
        • 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
        • 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
      • Overview
      • Member states’ video statements
      • 50 Leading Tech Voices
      • 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
      • 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
    • 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
  • 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
      • 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
    • 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/t980083eu1
  1. Home
  2. T 0083/98 25-09-2000
Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email

T 0083/98 25-09-2000

European Case Law Identifier
ECLI:EP:BA:2000:T008398.20000925
Date of decision
25 September 2000
Case number
T 0083/98
Petition for review of
-
Application number
85307923.4
IPC class
A45C 5/02
Language of proceedings
EN
Distribution
DISTRIBUTED TO BOARD CHAIRMEN (C)

Download and more information:

Decision in EN 42.1 KB
Documentation of the appeal procedure can be found in the European Patent Register
Bibliographic information is available in:
EN
Versions
Unpublished
Application title

Luggage case

Applicant name
SAMSONITE CORPORATION
Opponent name

Horizon Deutschland GmbH i.K.

J. Zimmermann Nachf. Inh. Karl Kronenberger GmbH & Co. KG

DELSEY

Valigeria Roncato S.p.A.

Board
3.2.04
Headnote
-
Relevant legal provisions
European Patent Convention Art 56 1973
Keywords
Inventive step -first auxiliary request - yes
Catchword
-
Cited decisions
T 0001/81
T 0015/81
T 0130/89
T 0939/92
Citing decisions
-

I. The opposition division's decision to reject the oppositions against European patent No. 0 221 215 was posted on 16 December 1997.

On 16 January 1998 the appellant (opponent V) filed an appeal with a statement of grounds and paid the appeal fee.

An appeal was also filed by opponent III who however withdrew his opposition by letter of 20 September 2000.

On 21 September 1999 opponent II was struck off the register of companies held by the District Court of Springe in Germany and so ceased to be a party as of right in the appeal proceedings.

II. Claim 1 as granted reads:

"A luggage case (11) of the type which does not have a metal frame running all the way round the case comprising two shells (12, 13), each shell being moulded in one piece from plastics material and having a peripheral side wall (15, 17 respectively), the side walls forming the front (18), back (19) and end walls (20) of the case, one shell (13) constituting a base shell and the other (12) a lid shell, the two shells being hinged together at the back wall (19) and having latching means (26) on the front wall for releasably fastening the edges of the shells together when the case is closed, characterised in that the latching means (26) on the front wall of the case comprises a latch mounted half-way along the front wall and is of the type that pulls the two shells together as the latch is fastened, and in that two further latches (24 and 25) for releasably fastening the edges of the shell together are located one on each of the front portions (27) of the end walls, the two further latches also being of the type that pull the shells together as they are fastened."

III. The appellant and the respondent (proprietor) attended oral proceedings on 25 September 2000.

Although duly summoned, the party as of right (opponent IV) did not attend these oral proceedings which took place without him, in accordance with Rule 71(2) EPC.

IV. During these oral proceedings the respondent submitted a new claim 1 for auxiliary request No. 1 reading:

"A luggage case (11) of the type which does not have a metal frame running all the way round the case comprising two shells (12, 13), each shell being moulded in one piece from plastics material and having a peripheral side wall (15, 17 respectively), the side walls forming the front (18), back (19) and end walls (20) of the case, one shell (13) constituting a base shell and the other (12) a lid shell, the two shells being hinged together at the back wall (19) and having latching means (26) on the front wall for releasably fastening the edges of the shells together when the case is closed, characterised in that the latching means (26) on the front wall of the case comprises a latch mounted halfway along the front wall and is of the type that pulls the two shells together as the latch is fastened, and in that two further latches (24 and 25) for releasably fastening the edges of the shell together are located, one on each of the front portions (27) of the end walls, the two further latches also being of the type that pull the shells together as they are fastened, said latch on the front wall and the said further latches on the end walls being the only means for releasably fastening the edges of the shells together when the case is closed."

V. The appellant cited the following documents in the appeal proceedings:

D2: Japanese Design Patent No. 699 891

D3: US-A-3 967 708

D4: Declaration of Mr Steve Scelba dated "11/12/93" on the American Tourister "Pullman" suitcase range

D5: GB-A-664 899

D6: GB-A-1 544 080

D7a: United Kingdom Registered Design No. 1 016 030

D7b: United Kingdom Registered Design No. 1 016 033

D8: EP-A-0 150 459

D9: FR-A-1 368 150

D10: GB-A-1 271 599

D11: Declaration of Mr Yunis Zekaria dated 13 December 1991 on the Delsey "Visa" range of suitcases

D12: GB-A-2 031 853

D13: US-A-2 415 220

D14: DE-A-2 253 024

D15: FR-A-2 455 552

D16: United Kingdom Registered Design No. 1 021 940

D39: A single sheet showing a suitcase called "Echolac" by Kodama Chemical Industry Co. Ltd and bearing the number "1985"

VI. In the appeal proceedings the appellant argued that the problem of gaping was known and that its solution by providing auxiliary latches was already known. The claimed solution was the combination of the position and the type of the latches. However both elements of this combination were known per se and their combination was obvious and brought no relevant advantage than what was provided by the aggregation of the two elements.

The respondent countered the appellant's arguments.

The party as of right did not comment in the appeal proceedings.

VII. The appellant requested that the decision under appeal be set aside and the patent revoked.

The respondent requested that the appeal be dismissed (i.e. that the patent be maintained as granted).

Alternatively he requested that the decision under appeal be set aside and the patent be maintained on the basis of claim 1 as submitted during the oral proceedings and claims 2 to 20 as granted (auxiliary request No. 1).

As a further alternative he requested that the patent be maintained on the basis of one of the sets of claims submitted as auxiliary requests Nos. 2 to 12 with the letter dated 6 October 1997.

There were no requests in the appeal proceedings from the party as of right (opponent IV).

1. The appeal is admissible.

2. Interpretation of claim 1 as granted and claim 1 of auxiliary request No. 1

During the oral proceedings the respondent agreed with the board that the features in these claims of "each shell ... having a peripheral side wall (15, 17 respectively), the side walls forming the front (18), back (19) and end walls (20) of the case" meant that each shell had its own side wall that extended all around the periphery of the case.

3. Novelty - the granted claim 1

3.1. D2 and D39

It is clear that D2 was published after the filing date of the present patent while it is not clear when (or even whether) D39 was published.

In the oral proceedings the appellant withdrew the novelty attack based on D2 and D39 because he had been unable to provide evidence that what was shown in these documents had been on the market before the filing date of the present patent and that D39 had been available to the public before that date.

3.2. D6

The travel case of D6 is said on page 1 in lines 59 to 61. to have "metal U strips 10 and 11 secured over the edges of the shells 2 and 3 as best illustrated in Figure 2" i.e. contrary to the granted claim 1 which excludes "a metal frame running all the way round the case".

Contrary to the granted claim 1, D6 does not disclose that the shells are "moulded ... from plastics material", the only shell material disclosed being fibre board, see page 1, lines 42 and 43 and claim 7.

While fastening devices 14 are provided on the end walls (see Figure 1) they are at the centres thereof instead of at their front portions as required by the granted claim 1.

Thus D6 does not disclose all the features of the granted claim 1.

3.3. The board is satisfied that no prior art document on file discloses all the features of the granted claim 1. Moreover in the oral proceedings the appellant stated that he was not aware of any document that would be novelty destroying in the sense that it disclosed all the features of the granted claim 1.

The subject-matter of claim 1 as granted is thus novel within the meaning of Article 54 EPC.

4. Closest prior art, problem and solution - the granted claim 1

4.1. The board agrees with the respondent that the prior art luggage case closest to the present invention is the Delsey Visa suitcase referred to in D11, a suitcase which has the features of the pre-characterising portion of claim 1 as granted.

4.2. The weight of the case according to D11 can be minimised by making the plastics moulded shells thin and by dispensing with a metal frame running all the way round the case. However these weight saving measures will result in the case having a low rigidity which will manifest itself in "a tendency for the case to gape along the end edges when the case is overfilled or when a heavy load is placed in the centre of the lid of the case, for example when someone sits on the case", see column 1, lines 13 to 17 of the description of the patent as granted (page 1, second paragraph of the originally filed application).

This problem of gaping was already clearly disclosed in the original application (see e.g. page 1, lines 10, 17, 22 and 34; page 2, lines 5, 10 and 20; page 5, line 29 and page 9, line 29) and the respondent demonstrated during the oral proceedings that gaping really occurred and so was a problem that really existed and needed to be solved.

4.3. While there are various solutions to this gaping problem, the one adopted in the characterising portion of claim 1 as granted is to provide latches for releasably fastening the edges of the shell together which are of the type that pull the shells together as they are fastened and which are mounted half-way along the front wall and on each of the front portions of the end walls. The end wall latches overcome the gaping problem at the end edges while the front wall latch prevents gaping here. These three latches "are easily accessible from the front of the case and therefore convenient to use", see column 1, lines 34 to 37 of the patent as granted (page 1, last line to page 2, line 2 of the originally filed application).

4.4. Accordingly the board finds that the truly existing problem posed by the prior art case of D11 is solved by the features set out in the characterising portion of claim 1 as granted.

5. Inventive step - the granted claim 1

5.1. If the skilled person was concerned that, because of its thin moulded shells and lack of a metal frame, the prior art case referred to in D11 suffered from gaping then he could simply rigidify the shells by making them thicker and/or providing them with ribs and/or providing a metal frame.

5.2. If he wished to avoid these solutions then he would look at other prior art cases, such as the case of D6 which was already briefly discussed in the above section 3.2.

While this is a fibre board case with metal U strips 10 and 11, the skilled person would immediately realise that its front wall and end wall fastening devices 14 might be of use in the D11 case. The gaping problem of the D11 case is due to its lack of rigidity and D6 explains in lines 34 to 39 of page 2 that "the provision of the fastening devices which apply a predetermined amount of compression between the abutting edges of the shells at spaced apart points along those edges further increases the rigidity of the case when closed."

Moreover the sentence bridging pages 1 and 2 of D6 explains that "as well as being provided with lockable fastening means 7, the case is provided with further fastening devices 14 spaced apart around the edges of the shells which assist in maintaining the edges of the shells in a butt joint when the case is closed by urging the abutting faces of the edges into engagement with each other."

It would be clear to the skilled person that the increase in rigidity of the D6 case is due to

- the over-centre toggle latches pulling the shells together as they are fastened (see page 2, lines 5 to 19 and 34 to 39), and

- the positioning of these latches (see page 2, lines 34 to 39),

and that it would be advantageous to make use of these latches and their positioning to solve the problem arising from the D11 case.

5.3. Lines 52 to 55 of page 1, lines 1 to 4 of page 2 and Figure 1 of D6 disclose "lockable fastening means 7 ... each side of the handle to enable the shells to be locked together when the case is closed" and that "In the illustrated case three fastening devices 14 are provided, one on the front of the case (as viewed) and two (only one shown) on the sides of the case." Lines 40 to 42 of page 2 add that "Of course, more than three fastening members 14 may be provided depending upon inter alia the size of the case."

If the skilled person decided to provide the case of D11 with more than three fastening devices 14 of D6 then he might put two more on the front but, since the two fastening means 7 when locked already help to hold the shells together, it seems more likely that he would put extra fastening devices 14 on the sides. If he chose to have two on each side then it would be obvious to have one towards the back of the case and one towards the front, the latter fastening device then being located on the front portion of the side (corresponding to the end wall in the present patent). Put another way, if the skilled person carried out the instruction in lines 40 to 42 of page 2 of D6 to use more than three fastening devices 14 shown in Figure 1 of D6, then he would be likely to land up with a fastening device 14 in the front portion of the side (i.e. end wall).

5.4. This obvious modification of the D11 case using the teaching of D6 falls within the scope of claim 1 as granted which therefore lacks inventive step.

It does not matter that, in addition to the "latch mounted half-way along the front wall" and the "two further latches ... on each of the front portions ... of the end walls" specified in the granted claim 1, the modified case would have two lockable fastening means (numbered 7 in D6 near the ends of the front wall and present in the same positions also in D11) and a number of other toggle latches (numbered 14 in D6) because the granted claim 1 does not say that the three specified latches are the only latches.

5.5. Thus the subject-matter of the granted claim 1 is not inventive (Articles 52(1) and 56 EPC) and the main request must be refused.

5.6. The board also notes that a luggage case having latches in addition to the three latches in the positions specified in the granted claim 1 would not have all the advantages that the respondent attributes to the inventive luggage case. The weight and cost of the case would be increased by the additional latches and these additional latches might be in inconvenient positions which are "difficult to reach from the front of the case for fastening and unfastening particularly on large cases", see column 1, lines 22 to 27 of the granted patent (page 1, lines 18 and 19 of the originally filed application).

6. Auxiliary request No. 1 - amendments

6.1. Claim 1 of auxiliary request No. 1 adds the feature of "said latch on the front wall and the said further latches on the end walls being the only means for releasably fastening the edges of the shells together when the case is closed" at the end of claim 1 as granted.

6.2. The preferred embodiment in the granted patent clearly has only the three specified latches, see e.g. Figures 1 to 3 and 12; column 3, lines 11 to 13 of the patent as granted (page 4, lines 1 and 2 of the originally filed application) ("Three latches 24, 25 and 26 are provided ...") and column 3, lines 29 and 30 of the patent as granted (page 4, lines 15 to 17 of the originally filed application) ("Two of the latches 24 and 25 ... The other latch 26 ...").

Thus the added feature referred to in the above section 6.1. is not objectionable under Article 123(2) EPC and, since it restricts the scope of the claim, there is no objection under Article 123(3) EPC either.

6.3. The dependent claims, description and Figures of auxiliary request No. 1 are the same as those of the granted patent.

6.4. Thus there are no objections under Article 123 EPC to the patent documents of auxiliary request No. 1.

7. Claim 1 of auxiliary request No. 1 - novelty, closest prior art, problem and solution

7.1. In section 3.3 above the subject-matter of claim 1 as granted was found to be novel. Since a feature (see section 6.1 above) has been added to arrive at claim 1 of auxiliary request No. 1, the latter's subject-matter must also be novel within the meaning of Article 54 EPC.

7.2. The comments made in the above section 4 regarding the closest prior art, problem and solution apply also to claim 1 of auxiliary request No. 1. However the criticism in the above section 5.6 that a luggage case according to claim 1 as granted would not have all the advantages maintained by the respondent obviously no longer applies now that the number of latches has been restricted to three.

8. Claim 1 of auxiliary request No. 1 - inventive step

8.1. While, as explained in the above section 5.2, the skilled person wishing to solve the problems arising from the D11 case would look at the prior art case of D6, this would not lead him to the solution set out in claim 1 of auxiliary request No. 1.

The inventive step argument advanced in the above section 5.3 against claim 1 as granted relied on the skilled person using the teaching of lines 40 to 42 of page 2 of D6 that "more than three fastening members 14 may be provided depending upon inter alia the size of the case" to add latches to the case of D11 and so automatically land up with latches in the claimed positions.

The particular embodiment shown in Figure 1 of D6 has five latches. While claim 1 of D6 does not specify the number of latches but specifies the presence of lockable fastening means as well as further fastening means, and while claim 11 specifies that "each fastening device comprises a hook member and an over-centre toggle member", nowhere in D6 is it disclosed that there are only three latches and that two of these are half-way along the end walls.

The appellant cited T 939/92 (OJ EPO 1996, 309) to support his view that, since the two lockable fastening means 7 in D6 do not draw the shells together, they do not contribute to the solution and so can be disregarded. The board disagrees, the flaps of these lockable fastening means obviously have to be shut when the case is closed and, even if not locked, do help to hold the shells together. Furthermore their presence on the case of D6 is essential as indicated in claim 1 (page 2, line 50 and page 1, lines 52 to 55).

Thus D6 would not teach the skilled person to provide only three latches and would not teach him to move the side latches from half-way along the end wall as shown in Figure 1 of D6 to the front portion as required by the claim.

Accordingly the skilled person making use of the teachings of D11 and D6 would not arrive at the subject-matter of claim 1 of auxiliary request No. 1 in an obvious way.

8.2. The appellant argued that the invention was merely the optimum positioning of latches for a case having three latches and that if the skilled person wished to provide a case with three latches then he would space them around the case periphery so as to achieve even compression. This would be achieved by a first latch half-way along the front wall and the other two each half-way between the first latch and the hinge on the back wall.

The board disagrees because the appellant's argument presupposes that the case has the same stiffness around its periphery whereas plainly the corners are stiffer than the walls. This would lead the skilled person to place the other two latches half-way between the corners (as shown on Figure 1 of D6).

8.3. The other prior art documents referred to by the appellant now need to be considered, starting with D3.

8.3.1. While Figure 7 of D3 shows and lines 36 and 37 of column 2 state that the second case section 12 is fabricated from two preformed parts 21 and 22, it is explained in lines 48 and 49 of column 4 that "optionally, the parts 21 and 22 may be manufactured as one item." However, whether in one part or two, this second case section 12 does not have a wall that corresponds to the back wall in the terminology of the opposed patent. This is apparent from Figure 7; from the list in column 2, lines 38 and 39 of what it does have, namely "a back panel 23, two end panels 24 and 25 and a top panel 26" (thereby implying the absence of a bottom panel); and from lines 48 to 52 of column 2, namely "a continuous flange 28 ... lacking that portion extending along the bottom panel edge."

Thus the requirement in the pre-characterising portion of claim 1 of auxiliary request No. 1 of each shell having a back wall (see the above section 2) is not satisfied by the shell 12 of D3 (the back panel 23 of this shell of course corresponds to the bottom wall 16 of the present patent not to its back wall 19).

8.3.2. This unusual construction of D3 seems to have been dictated by the case being for "relatively long apparel, e.g. suits, dresses and coats, ... avoiding tight folding of such long apparel", see column 1, lines 20 to 23.

Plainly, if someone knew of the present invention, then he would be struck by the similarity of the claimed positions for the two further latches "one on each of the front portions (27) of the end walls" and the positions shown on Figures 1, 5 and 6 of D3 of the latch mechanisms 30 on the end panels 24 and 25.

However the board cannot see that the skilled person (at the filing date of the present patent and therefore ignorant of the present invention) starting from either the Delsey Visa suitcase referred to in D11 or from the case known from D6 would pay much attention to D3 because the case of D3 is of such an unusual construction, completely different to that of D11 or D6.

If, on the other hand, the skilled person were to start from the case of D3 and modify it, then he would still retain the main features of D3's unusual construction. It would not be obvious for him to change the basic type of the D3 case into the type defined by the pre-characterising portion of claim 1 of auxiliary request No. 1.

8.3.3. Lines 40 to 48 of column 3 of D3 state that "a locking apparatus 44, such as a combination lock, for example, is incorporated into the top panel substantially midway between the end panels ... When the case is closed, a clasp or hook 46 ... coacts with the locking apparatus in a known manner to provide selective locking of the case sections together." The locking apparatus 44 is shown in Figures 1, 3, 5 and 6.

Starting from the Figure 5 position, the user pushes the first case section 11 down onto the second case section 12 so that the case sections are held together by the side latch mechanisms 30 and the clasp 46 takes up the position shown in Figure 3. However D3 does not disclose whether merely closing the case sections will cause the clasp 40 to be held (i.e. self-latching) or whether it is necessary to turn the combination wheels to hold the clasp 40.

According to column 1, lines 43 to 45 of D3 "A locking-latch apparatus is provided on the top panel adjacent the handle, e.g., combination or key lock" which at first sight implies the self-latching possibility. However no explanation is given of the term "locking-latch apparatus" and claim 6 of D3 lists the latching means on the end panels separately from the means on the top panel for locking the case sections together. The board considers it probable that locking is necessary for holding the clasp since there does not appear to be a release button on Figures 1, 5 and 6 that would be necessary to release the clasp if it were self-latching.

It is clear from claim 1 of auxiliary request No. 1 that the means on the front wall must comprise a latch and that this must be of the type that will pull the shells together as the latch is fastened. Once secured (by self-latching - if the first possibility is the correct one - and/or by turning the combination wheels), the locking apparatus 44 of D3 will help the side latch mechanisms 30 to hold the case sections shut but there is no suggestion that this locking apparatus will pull the case sections together as the latch is fastened.

8.3.4. A latch mechanism 30 is provided on the front portion of each end panel 24, 25 "which cooperates with an associated T-shaped hasp 31 affixed to the inner surface of flange 16 for releasably securing the case sections together", see column 3, lines 1 to 5 and Figure 1 of D3. It can be seen from the shape of the hasp 31 and hook 42 on Figure 4 that, unlike the latches specified in claim 1 of auxiliary request No. 1, the D3 latches do not pull the shells together as they are fastened.

8.3.5. In view of the comments in sections 8.3.3 and 8.3.4 above, it is clear that, even if it were obvious to combine the teachings of D11 and D3, the result would not include latches pulling the shells together as they are fastened.

There is also no reason to suppose, if the skilled person were trying to combine the teaching of D3 with the teaching of either D6 or D11, that he would cherry-pick just those features necessary to arrive at the claimed case.

Thus for instance it would not be obvious for him to select from D3 and D6 a case whose shells each have a back wall (like D6) but not a frame (unlike at least D6), one latch having the position of one of the three latches of D6, two latches having the positions of the latches of D3 but being of the type disclosed by D6 and so on - unless impermissibly he knew of the present invention.

8.3.6. Thus D3, alone or in combination with other teachings, would not lead the skilled person to the present invention.

8.4. The board cannot agree with the appellant that D7a and D7b, being filed on the same day by the same applicant and relating to features of the same luggage case, are to be seen as a single prior art disclosure. In particular there is no proof that the latch which is the subject of D7b is the same as the latch used on the case shown in D7a.

In any case, D7a and D7b, whether taken together or separately, would not help the skilled person arrive at the present invention, particularly because they merely depict a design of a case and a design of a latch without disclosing specific technical features.

The latches on the case shown in D7a do not correspond to those of the invention in either position or number but the appellant, citing section 3 of T 15/81 (OJ EPO 1982, 002), maintained that "If a designer working on the development of such apparatus does not possess the technical knowledge to overcome such difficulties, he can be expected to consult the relevant prior art for components which perform the same function and are better able to meet the requirements." However the board does not see that any of the other prior art disclosures on file (and in particular D6 which was discussed in section 8.1 above) would lead him to the present invention.

D7b shows a latch but, like D5, D8 and D9, contains nothing of relevance for the present invention as claimed that is not already known from D6, in particular none of these documents discloses either the positioning of the latches specified in claim 1 of auxiliary request No. 1 or the above indicated problem which is to be solved.

8.5. D4 concerns a fibreboard framed suitcase and was merely cited by number by the appellant in the statement of grounds of appeal with no supporting arguments during the appeal proceedings. The board accordingly considers that the appellant accepted the finding in the last paragraph on page 8 of the opposition division's decision that D4 was more remote than other cited prior art.

8.6. Similarly the appellant cited D10 by number in the statement of grounds of appeal but gave no supporting arguments during the appeal proceedings. The board finds also this document is less relevant than the other cited prior art.

8.7. The appellant cited D12 to D16 merely against dependent claims. As far as claim 1 of auxiliary request No. 1 is concerned, these documents are no more relevant than the other documents considered above.

8.8. The appellant referred to the headnote of T 130/89 (OJ EPO 1991, 514) which states that "the use of a known material on the basis of its known properties and in a known manner to obtain a known effect in a new combination is not normally inventive." However while the material (the latches e.g. of D6) and the properties (pulling the shells together as they are fastened) are known, the manner of their use (i.e. the positioning of merely three latches as specified in claim 1 of auxiliary request No. 1) is not known from any cited prior art document.

8.9. Thus the board cannot see that the prior art documents on file, on their own or in combination, could lead the skilled person in an obvious manner to arrive at the luggage case specified in claim 1 of auxiliary request No. 1.

9. Section 11 of T 1/81 (OJ EPO 1981, 439) states that "patents granted under the EPC should have inventive step sufficient to ensure to the patentees a fair degree of certainty that if contested the validity of the patents will be upheld by national courts."

The appellant concluded from this, since the Court of Milan in Italy had declared the nullity of the European patent with effect for Italy, that the board should revoke the European patent.

However the appellant did not dispute the respondent's statement that the Italian decision was not a final decision and the appellant did not provide the board with any information as to what claims were concerned, what prior art was cited and what reasoning the Italian court used. The Italian decision cannot therefore influence the board in taking its decision.

10. The subject-matter of independent claim 1 of auxiliary request No. 1 is thus patentable as required by Article 52 EPC. Its dependent claims 2 to 20 are also patentable.

The patent may therefore be maintained amended in the version according to auxiliary request No. 1 and thus there is no need to look at the auxiliary requests Nos. 2 to 12.

Order

ORDER

For these reasons it is decided that:

1. The decision under appeal is set aside.

2. The case is remitted to the first instance with the order to maintain the patent in the following version:

Claims: Claim 1 of auxiliary request No. 1 submitted during the oral proceedings, and Claims 2 to 20 as granted

Description: Columns 1 to 8 as granted

Drawings: Figures 1 to 12 as granted

Footer - Service & support
  • Service & support
    • FAQ
    • Contact us
    • Subscription centre
    • Official holidays
    • Publications
    • Procedural communications
    • Ordering
    • 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