3. Legal status of the intervener

In G 3/04 (OJ 2006, 118) the Enlarged Board held that the valid intervener acquired the status of an opponent, irrespective of whether the intervention occurred during the proceedings before the opposition division or at the appeal stage. In either case the intervener's rights and obligations were the same as those of other opponents with the exception of the additional right of the intervener to raise any new grounds of opposition mentioned in Art. 100 EPC.

In G 2/24 (OJ 2026, A24) the Enlarged Board reaffirmed this conclusion and found that the legal status of an intervener at appeal is that of a party as of right under Art. 107, second sentence, EPC.