c) Request for dismissal of the appeal and maintenance of the patent

In T 1309/16 the patent proprietor had not submitted any reply to the opponent's grounds of appeal and, instead, only requested, about one month before the oral proceedings, that the appeal be dismissed and the patent maintained. The board observed that the primary purpose of the appeal proceedings was to judicially review the contested decision which had rejected the opposition (Art. 12(2) RPBA) and the patent proprietor did not have to request the appeal's dismissal for that to happen. The board considered that there was no need to decide whether the patent proprietor's request was formally admissible under Art. 13(2) RPBA.