European Patent Office

T 0451/99 (Synthetic antigens/GENETIC SYSTEMS) of 14.03.2003

European Case Law Identifier
ECLI:EP:BA:2003:T045199.20030314
Date of decision
14 March 2003
Case number
T 0451/99
Petition for review of
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Application number
86902998.3
IPC class
C12Q 1/70
Language of proceedings
English
Distribution
Published in the EPO's Official Journal (A)
Abstracts for this decision
-
Application title
Synthetic antigens for the detection of AIDS-related disease
Applicant name
GENETIC SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Opponent name
Dade Behring Marburg GmbH
Roche Diagnostics GmbH
Board
3.3.04
Headnote

The following questions are referred to the Enlarged Board of Appeal:

Is the introduction into a claim of a disclaimer not supported by the application as filed admissible, and therefore the claim allowable under Article 123(2) EPC, when the purpose of the disclaimer is to meet a lack-of-novelty objection pursuant to Article 54(3) EPC?

If yes, what are the criteria to be applied in assessing the admissibility of the disclaimer?

Keywords
Allowability of disclaimers - under Article 123(2) EPC - delimitation against Article 54(3) EPC prior art - criteria to be applied - referral to Enlarged Board of Appeal
Catchword
-

ORDER

For these reasons it is decided that:

The following questions are referred to the Enlarged Board of Appeal:

Is the introduction into a claim of a disclaimer not supported by the application as filed admissible, and therefore the claim allowable under Article 123(2) EPC, when the purpose of the disclaimer is to meet a lack-of-novelty objection pursuant to Article 54(3) EPC?

If yes, what are the criteria to be applied in assessing the admissibility of the disclaimer?