Chapter I – Appeals procedure
Rule 100135
Examination of appeals
(1)136 Unless otherwise provided, the provisions relating to proceedings before the department which has taken the decision impugned shall apply to appeal proceedings.
(2) In the examination of the appeal, the Board of Appeal shall invite the parties, as often as necessary, to file observations, within a period to be specified, on communications issued by itself or observations submitted by another party.
(3) If the applicant fails to reply in due time to an invitation under paragraph 2, the European patent application shall be deemed to be withdrawn, unless the decision impugned was taken by the Legal Division.
135See decisions of the Enlarged Board of Appeal G 7/91, G 8/91, G 9/91, G 10/91, G 9/92, G 8/93, G 10/93, G 6/95, G 1/99, G 3/99 (Annex I).
136See notice from the Vice-President DG 3 of 17.03.2008 (OJ EPO 2008, 220).See notice of the President of the Boards of Appeal of 31.10.2020 on introducing a consolidated list of documents submitted by parties during inter partes appeal proceedings and on discontinuing the forwarding of cited documents to the other parties (OJ EPO 2020, A131).
See notice of the President of the Boards of Appeal of 01.05.2022 on informing the parties of submissions made by other parties to the proceedings and by third parties (OJ EPO 2022, A57).
See notice from the Boards of Appeal of 19.01.2024 on accelerating proceedings (supplementary publication 1, OJ EPO 2024, 79).