5. Suspected partiality of members of the boards of appeal
Under Art. 3(2) RPBA 2020 (see also Art. 3(2) RPBA 2007, and for the Enlarged Board Art. 4(2) RPEBA) the member concerned is to be invited to present his comments as to whether there is a reason for exclusion or objection (as to the scope of Art. 3(2) RPBA 2003 and Art. 4(2) RPEBA, see T 985/01 of 18 March 2005 date: 2005-03-18).
In T 1938/09 of 2 October 2014 date: 2014-10-02 the appellant referred to R 19/12 of 25 April 2014 date: 2014-04-25 and objected to the chairman of the board, arguing he was a potential deputy for the Vice-President of the EPO Directorate-General 3 (VP3). The chairman had not provided details, as requested by the appellant, on whether he had deputised for VP3. The board acknowledged that there might be cases where a board would not be in a position to decide on the objection without having received the necessary information from the member objected to. However, in the case at hand the board deemed it irrelevant for the question of impartiality whether the chairman had deputised for VP3 and refused the partiality objection. The provision of the requested details would only have been necessary if the board in its composition at that time had considered that these details were relevant for the decision to be taken.
- T 2440/16
Catchword:
Ablehnung wegen Besorgnis der Befangenheit
- Zum notwendigen Inhalt einer dienstlichen Äußerung gemäß Artikel 3 (2) VOBK 2020 (Ziffer 1.4.3).
- Die Stellung eines Antrags und die Einlassung zur Sache sind Verfahrenshandlungen im Sinne von Artikel 24 (3) Satz 2 EPÜ (Ziffer 1.5.2).
- Ein Spruchkörper ist nicht generell verpflichtet, in der mündlichen Verhandlung Erklärungen oder Begründungen für die Auffassung der Kammer zu geben. Das Fehlen einer solchen Begründung rechtfertigt in der Regel nicht die Besorgnis der Befangenheit (Ziffer 2.3.1).
- Die Einleitung der durch ein Beratungsergebnis bedingten notwendigen weiteren Verfahrensschritte rechtfertigt nicht die Besorgnis der Befangenheit (Ziffer 2.3.2).
- Annual report: case law 2022
- Summaries of decisions in the language of the proceedings