3.5.3 No waiver of right to a reasoned decision

A request for a decision on the state of the file thus cannot be construed as a waiver of the right to a fully reasoned first instance decision (T 265/03, T 583/04, T 1182/05, T 1309/05, T 1356/05, T 1360/05 and T 750/06). T 1356/05 goes further and states that even if an applicant were to waive its right to a reasoned first instance decision expressis verbis, it hardly authorises the examining division to dispense with it.

In T 952/07 the board made it clear that the duty to provide reasons in administrative decisions was a fundamental principle in all contracting states, R. 68(2) EPC 1973 simply being an expression of this principle. The losing party must be in a position to understand the reasons for the negative decision taken against it so that it can consider the option of filing an appeal.

In T 2187/17 the board noted that a request for a decision based on the current state of the file is not to be understood as a waiver by the party of its right to a fully reasoned decision. The departments of the European Patent Office cannot omit to give reasons for their decisions when the EPC requires them to do so.