4.1.1 Principles

The procedure defined in the EPC for the filing of divisional applications is self-contained and complete (see e.g. T 587/98, OJ 2000, 497). The procedure concerning the divisional application is, in principle, independent from the procedure concerning the parent application. Although there are some connections between the two procedures (e.g. concerning time limits), actions (or omissions) occurring in the procedure concerning the parent application after the filing of the divisional application should not influence the procedure concerning the latter (G 4/98, OJ 2001, 131). The parent application also does not have any procedural priority over the divisional application, which is like any other application and in particular does not have subordinate procedural status (T 1177/00, T 1176/00).

In J 12/18 the Legal Board recalled that only after the filing of a divisional application is its fate separated from changes concerning the earlier application. The nature of a divisional application, which is derived from a parent application thereby benefiting from the parent's date of filing and priority rights, implies that the divisional cannot be broader than the parent application, neither its subject-matter (Art. 76(1) EPC) nor its geographical coverage. Hence, in the case in hand, designated states forfeited in the parent application at the time of filing the divisional could not be revived in the divisional.