c) Announcing non-attendance – waiver of the party’s opportunity to present their case orally 

In T 1066/19 the board pointed out that the right to oral proceedings had to be seen in the light of the right to be heard pursuant to Art. 113 EPC. The board held that the principle of the right to be heard pursuant to Art. 113(1) EPC had not been violated by the decision in question, considering it sufficient that the appellant had had the opportunity to be heard. By declaring that it would not be attending oral proceedings, the appellant had waived the opportunity to present its arguments orally at the scheduled oral proceedings and had indicated its wish to rely instead on the arguments presented in the written proceedings (see also T 73/17, T 3002/19, T 3104/19, T 1192/20, T 1/21, T 1224/21, T 536/22, T 1531/22).