a) Interruption of proceedings

The question for the board in T 854/12 was whether it was competent to decide itself whether proceedings had been interrupted under R. 142 EPC, or had to arrange for the Legal Division to take a decision in this regard. It found that a decision-making board had to ascertain for itself whether, based on the facts submitted and any additional facts it had had to investigate of its own motion, the conditions for an interruption had been met, if its decision depended on this point (see also T 54/17).