II. BUSINESS DISTRIBUTION 2021
II.3 - Business distribution scheme of the Technical Boards of Appeal for 2021
The Presidium,
pursuant to Rule 12b, paragraph 4, of the Implementing Regulations to the European Patent Convention, as amended by decision CA/D 6/16 of the Administrative Council of 30 June 2016, which entered into force on 1 July 2016 (see OJ EPO 2016, A100),
having regard to Article 1, paragraph 1, of the Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal,
hereby adopts the following business distribution scheme:
Article 1
Allocation of appeals to the Technical Boards of Appeal
(1) Appeals shall be allocated to the Boards on the basis of the main classification of the International Patent Classification attributed to the application or patent at the time of filing of the appeal as follows:
Board of Appeal 3.2.01
A24 (exc. B15);
A43 (exc. D); A44-45;
A47B, C, F, G;
B23;
B60 (exc. L, M); B61 (exc. L);
B62 (exc. B, M); B63-64;
B66 (exc. B);
E01C19, 23;
F21
Board of Appeal 3.2.02
A61 (exc. B1 appeals Txxxx/15, Txxxx/16, Txxxx/17, Txxxx/18, C, F, K, L, M25 exc. appeals Txxxx/15, Txxxx/16, Txxxx/17, Txxxx/18, N, P, Q)
Board of Appeal 3.2.03
B21B; B22;
C10B; C23;
E01 (exc. C19, C23);
E02-04, 21, 99;
F22; F23 (exc. N); F24-28;
F41 (exc. G); F42
Board of Appeal 3.2.04
A01 (exc. H, K67, N); A21 (exc. D);
A22; A23N;
A43D; A47 (exc. B, C, F, G);
A62 (exc. D); A63, 99;
F02; F03 (exc. H); F04
Board of Appeal 3.2.05
B29, 31, 41-44 (exc. B42D appeals Txxxx/18, Txxxx/19, Txxxx/20);
B65H; B99;
F15; F16J-T; F17
Board of Appeal 3.2.06
A41-42, 46; A61F13-17;
B62B, M; B66B, 68;
C40B60;
D01 (exc. C, F); D02-05;
D06 (exc. L-Q); D07, 99;
F01
Board of Appeal 3.2.07
B02; B03 (exc. D); B04-05;
B07 (exc. C); B08-09, 24-26;
B27 (exc. K); B28, 30, 33;
B65 (exc. H); B67;
C03B; C13B5, 15; C14B;
D21 (exc. C, H)
Board of Appeal 3.2.08
A61B1 (only appeals Txxxx/15, Txxxx/16, Txxxx/17, Txxxx/18);
A61C, F (exc. 13-17);
A61M25 (only appeals Txxxx/15, Txxxx/16, Txxxx/17, Txxxx/18);
B21 (exc. B);
E05-06;
F16B-H; F99
Board of Appeal 3.3.01
A21D; A24B15;
A61K31, 35, 36, 41, 45, 48;
A61P;
C13 (exc. B5, 15);
G01N33
Board of Appeal 3.3.02
A01N;
B01D53/00-53/24, D61-71;
C07 (exc. B, C, H21; K1, 2, 14-19);
C09B, D; C10 (exc. B, G, J, L);
C12 (exc. M, N, P, Q);
C40B40/00, 40/04, 40/16, 80/00,
99/00; C99
Board of Appeal 3.3.03
C08 (exc. J); C40B20/02, 40/12, 40/14
Board of Appeal 3.3.04
A01H; A01K67; A61K38, 39;
C07K1, 2, 14-19; C12N15/82-15/84
Board of Appeal 3.3.05
A62D;
B01 (exc. D53/00-53/24, D61-71;
F17; J19-49); B03D; B27K;
C01-02; C03C; C04-06; C21; C22;
C25; C30; C40B40/18;
H01M
Board of Appeal 3.3.06
B01F17; B01J19-49; B32;
C09C; C10G, J, L; C11; C14C;
D01C, F; D06L-Q; D21C, H;
G03C
Board of Appeal 3.3.07
A61K7/00-7/38 (exc. 7/11-7/135);
A61K8 (in so far as the supplementary classification is A61Q1/00-5/04, 5/12-11/02, 15, 90);
A61K6, 9, 33, 47, 49-51, 101-135;
A61Q1/00-5/04, 5/12-11/02, 15, 90
Board of Appeal 3.3.08
C07H21; C12M, N (exc. N15/82-15/84), P, Q;
C40B10/00, 30/04-30/08, 40/02, 40/06-40/10, 50/06, 50/10, 50/16
Board of Appeal 3.3.09
A23 (exc. N);
C08J;
G03F7/00-7/085, 7/42;
G03G9/08-9/135;
H01L51/00, 51/30, 51/46, 51/54;
H01S3/14-3/227
Board of Appeal 3.3.10
A61K7/11-7/135, 7/40-7/48;
A61K8 (in so far as the supplementary classification is A61Q5/06-5/10, 13, 17, 19);
A61L; A61Q5/06-5/10, 13, 17, 19;
C07B, C; C09 (exc. B, C, D);
C40B50/00, 50/04, 50/08, 50/12, 50/14, 50/18
Board of Appeal 3.4.01
A61N;
C40B20/08, 30/10;
G01P, R, S, T; G06K (exc. 9); G09 (exc. B, F, G); G10, 12, 21, 99;
H01P, Q; H05 (exc. F, G, K)
Board of Appeal 3.4.02
B81-82;
G01B-N (exc. N33); G01Q; G01W; G02;
H05G
Board of Appeal 3.4.03
B06;
B42D (only appeals Txxxx/18, Txxxx/19, Txxxx/20);
C40B20/04, 70/00;
F03H;
G01V; G03 (exc. C, F7/00-7/085, 7/42, G9/08-9/135); G06F17/60 (only appeals Txxxx/15, Txxxx/16),
G06Q (only appeals Txxxx/15, Txxxx/16);
G07 (exc. B); G09B, F, G;
H01C, G, J, L (exc. 51/00, 51/30, 51/46, 51/54), S (exc. 3/14-3/227);
H02S; H05F, K
Board of Appeal 3.5.01
C40B20/00, 20/06, 30/00, 30/02, 50/02;
G06F17/60 (exc. appeals Txxxx/15, Txxxx/16), G06Q (exc. appeals Txxxx/15, Txxxx/16)
Board of Appeal 3.5.02
B07C; B60L, M;
F23N; F41G;
G04; G07B (exc. 15); G08 (exc. G);
H01B, F, H, K, R, T;
H02 (exc. S), 03 (exc. M), 99;
Board of Appeal 3.5.03
G05;
H04 (exc. L 1-27, N)
Board of Appeal 3.5.04
G06T;
H04N
Board of Appeal 3.5.05
B61L;
G06F3, 19; G07B15; G08G; G16;
H04L (exc. 29)
Board of Appeal 3.5.06
G06 (exc. F3, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 19, 30, 40, K, Q, T); G06K9
Board of Appeal 3.5.07
G06F11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17 (exc. 60), 30, 40; G11;
H03M
(2) If because of the technical content of an appeal it is appropriate to allocate it otherwise than as provided by paragraph 1, the Chairmen of the Boards concerned shall endeavour to reach agreement on the allocation, failing which the Presidium shall decide.
Article 2
Allocation of members to the Technical Boards of Appeal
The members of the individual Technical Boards of Appeal are:1
Board of Appeal 3.2.01
Ch: Giovanni Pricolo
TM: Juan José de Acha González
TM: Michael Geisenhofer
TM: Hartwich Geuss*
TM: Sophie Mangin
TM: Winfried Marx
TM: Claudio Narcisi
TM: Vincenzo Vinci
TM: Andrea Wagner
LM: Sofía Fernández de Córdoba
LM: Peter Guntz
LM: Aurélie Jimenez
LM: Olga Loizou
Board of Appeal 3.2.02
Ch: Marco Alvazzi Delfrate
TM: Stephanie Böttcher
TM: David Ceccarelli*
TM: Samuel Dennler
TM: Axel Martinez Möller
TM: Mario Stern
LM: Nikolaus Obrovski
LM: Yvonne Podbielski
LM: Christof Schmidt
Board of Appeal 3.2.03
Ch: Christoph Herberhold
TM: Rafael Baltanás Y Jorge
TM: Vincent Bouyssy
TM: Christopher Donnelly*
TM: Bernd Goers
TM: Bernhard Miller
TM: Guy Patton
LM: Eleni Kossonakou
LM: Nikolaus Obrovski
LM: Dorothea Prietzel-Funk
Board of Appeal 3.2.04
Ch: Albert de Vries
TM: Sabine Hillebrand
TM: Christian Kujat
TM: Gabriel Martin González
TM: Sylvain Oechsner de Coninck
TM: Jonathan Wright
LM: Tamás Bokor
LM: Christopher Heath*
LM: Wim van der Eijk
Board of Appeal 3.2.05
Ch: Philipp Lanz
TM: Matthias Holz
TM: Oliver Randl*
TM: Bettina Spitzer
TM: Tom Vermeulen
LM: Anna Bacchin
LM: Claus-Peter Brandt
LM: Theodora Karamanli
Board of Appeal 3.2.06
Ch: Michael Harrison
TM: Pedro Cipriano
TM: Markus Dorfstätter
TM: Martin Hannam
TM: Thomas Rosenblatt*
LM: Claes Almberg
LM: Jeannine Hoppe
LM: Eleni Kossonakou
LM: Wilhelm Ungler
Board of Appeal 3.2.07
Ch + LM: Ingo Beckedorf
TM: Anja Beckman
TM: Vincenzo Bevilacqua
TM: Antonio Cano Palmero
TM: Benjamin Paul
TM: Andrea Pieracci*
TM: Konstantinos Poalas
TM: Stephanie Watson
LM: Claus-Peter Brandt
LM: Robert Cramer
Board of Appeal 3.2.08
Ch: Paola Acton
TM: Andreas Björklund
TM: Gerhard Buchmann
TM: Matthew Foulger
TM: Michael Olapinski
TM: Christoph Vetter
LM: Yvonne Podbielski
LM: Christof Schmidt*
LM: Petra Schmitz
Board of Appeal 3.3.01
Ch: Albert Lindner
TM: Silke Albrecht
TM: Regina Hauss
TM: José Molina de Alba
TM: Magdalena Pregetter
TM: Teresa Sommerfeld*
LM: Martina Blasi
LM: Lukas Bühler
LM: Paul de Heij
LM: Roberto Romandini
Board of Appeal 3.3.02
Ch: Marcus O. Müller
TM: Samuel Bertrand
TM: Achim Lenzen
TM: Michele Maremonti*
TM: Paul O'Sullivan
LM: Martina Blasi
LM: Lukas Bühler
LM: Paul de Heij
LM: Roberto Romandini
Board of Appeal 3.3.03
Ch: Daniele Semino
TM: Olivier Dury*
(*as from 01.03.2021)
TM: Maxwell Gordon*
(until 28.02.2021)
TM: Damien Marquis
TM: François Rousseau
LM: Anna Bacchin
LM: Claus-Peter Brandt
LM: Robert Cramer
LM: Wilhelm Ungler
Board of Appeal 3.3.04
Ch: Gabriele Alt
TM: Ashok Chakravarty
TM: Bart Claes*
TM: Oskar Lechner
TM: Dulce Luis Alves
TM: Renate Morawetz
TM: Berthold Rutz
TM: Anja Schmitt
LM: Martina Blasi
LM: Lukas Bühler
LM: Paul de Heij
LM: Roberto Romandini
Board of Appeal 3.3.05
Ch: Ernst Bendl
TM: Sonja Besselmann
TM: Thorsten Burkhardt
TM: Guy Glod*
TM: Josef Roider
LM: Sofía Fernández de Córdoba
LM: Peter Guntz
LM: Olga Loizou
LM: Richard Winkelhofer
Board of Appeal 3.3.06
Ch: Jean-Michel Schwaller
TM: Paolo Ammendola
TM: Sergio Arrojo
TM: Ralf Elsäßer
TM: Luigi Li Voti*
TM: Giuseppe Santavicca
LM: Claus-Peter Brandt
LM: Robert Cramer
LM: Christopher Heath
LM: Jeannine Hoppe
Board of Appeal 3.3.07
Ch: Ambrogio Usuelli
TM: Denis Boulois
TM: Eric Duval
TM: Jennifer Lécaillon
TM: Martin Steendijk
LM: Aurélie Jimenez
LM: Yvonne Podbielski*
LM: Petra Schmitz
Board of Appeal 3.3.08
Ch: Beat Stolz
TM: Pere Julià
TM: Marco Montrone
TM: Daniel Pilat
TM: Maria Rosario Vega Laso*
LM: Anna Bacchin
LM: David Rogers
LM: Richard Winkelhofer
Board of Appeal 3.3.09
Ch: Andreas Haderlein
TM: Markus Ansorge
TM: Francesco Rinaldi*
TM: Andrea Veronese
LM: Fritz Blumer
LM: Eleni Kossonakou
LM: David Rogers
Board of Appeal 3.3.10
Ch: Pascal Gryczka
TM: Matthias Kollmannsberger
TM: Raquel Pérez Carlón*
TM: Jean-Claude Schmid
TM: Armin Zellner
LM: Fritz Blumer
LM: Tamás Bokor
LM: Wim van der Eijk
Board of Appeal 3.4.01
Ch: Paul Scriven
TM: Pascal Fontenay*
TM: Ana Medeiros Gaspar
TM: Bernhard Noll
TM: Torsten Petelski
TM: Thomas Zinke
LM: Claes Almberg
LM: David Rogers
LM: Richard Winkelhofer
Board of Appeal 3.4.02
Ch: Roland Bekkering
TM: André Hornung
TM: Christian Kallinger
TM: Francisco Narganes-Quijano
TM: Hans-Christoph von Gronau
LM: Georg Decker
LM: Theodora Karamanli
LM: Bernhard Müller*
Board of Appeal 3.4.03
Ch: Gunnar Eliasson
TM: Andreas Böhm-Pélissier
TM: Thomas Häusser*
TM: Marc Ley
TM: Emmanuel Papastefanou
TM: Michael Stenger
TM: Judith Thomas
TM: Seamus Ward
LM: Tamás Bokor
LM: Georg Decker
LM: Christopher Heath
LM: Dorothea Prietzel-Funk
LM: Wim van der Eijk
Board of Appeal 3.5.01
Ch: William Chandler
TM: Luca Falò
TM: Norbert Glaser
TM: Marcus Höhn
TM: Ivayla Kürten
TM: Raimund Moser
TM: Annika Wahrenberg
TM: Wojciech Zubrzycki
LM: Eric Mille
LM: Christof Schmidt
LM: Petra Schmitz*
Board of Appeal 3.5.02
Ch: Richard Lord
TM: Harald Bronold
TM: Gary Flyng*
TM: Fabian Giesen
TM: Claudia Vassoille
LM: Anna Bacchin
LM: Robert Cramer
LM: Jeannine Hoppe
LM: Wilhelm Ungler
Board of Appeal 3.5.03
Ch: Kemal Bengi-Akyuerek
TM: Javier Eraso Helguera
TM: Rolf Gerdes
TM: Karel Peirs
TM: Klaus Schenkel
TM: Timothy Snell*
LM: Claes Almberg
LM: Nikolaus Obrovski
LM: Roberto Romandini
LM: Richard Winkelhofer
Board of Appeal 3.5.04
Ch: Brigitte Willems
TM: Alain Dumont
TM: Benjamin Le Guen
TM: Marc Paci*
TM: Alexander Seeger
LM: Georg Decker
LM: Theodora Karamanli
LM: Bernhard Müller
Board of Appeal 3.5.05
Ch: Andrea Ritzka
TM: Philippe Cretaine*
TM: Eyüp Konak
TM: Peter Tabery
TM: Nikolay Uhlmann
LM: Fritz Blumer
LM: Eric Mille
LM: Dorothea Prietzel-Funk
Board of Appeal 3.5.06
Ch: Martin Müller
TM: Teodor Alecu
TM: Stefan Krischer
TM: Alan Teale*
TM: Georges Zucka
LM: Aurélie Jimenez
LM: Bernhard Müller
Board of Appeal 3.5.07
Ch + LM: Jean Geschwind
TM: Corinne Barel-Faucheux
TM: Ronald de Man
TM: Michael Jaedicke
TM: Paula San-Bento Furtado*
LM: Eric Mille
Article 3
Composition of the board in a particular appeal
(1) The Chairman shall determine the composition of the board responsible for deciding it from amongst the Board members.
(2) In determining the composition the Chairman shall in particular take account of the workload of each member and the technical and language requirements of the case.
(3) If the circumstances of the appeal make it necessary, the Chairman shall designate a technically qualified member from another Board. In so doing he shall obtain the consent of the Chairman of that Board.
(4) If the circumstances of the appeal make it necessary, the Chairman shall designate a legally qualified member from another Board. In so doing he shall obtain the consent of the Chairman of the Legal Board of Appeal.
(5) The President of the Boards of Appeal shall be informed of the application of paragraphs 3 and 4.
Article 4
Change of composition of the board in a particular appeal
(1) If a member designated pursuant to Article 3 or 4 cannot or can no longer participate in the case, or if a change in the business distribution scheme occasions it, the Chairman shall designate another member of his Board to replace that member, having regard in particular to the criteria indicated in Article 3, paragraph 2.
(2) If a technically qualified member of one of the Boards listed below cannot be replaced in accordance with paragraph 1, the Chairman shall designate a member of one of the Boards of his group as defined below, subject to the agreement of the Chairman of that Board and having regard in particular to the criteria indicated in Article 3, paragraph 2:
- Boards 3.2.01, 3.2.03, 3.2.04 and 3.2.07;
- Boards 3.2.02 and 3.2.08;
- Boards 3.3.01, 3.3.04 and 3.3.08;
- Boards 3.3.05 and 3.3.06;
- Boards 3.3.02 and 3.3.10; and
- Boards 3.5.05 and 3.5.07.
(3) If a technically qualified member cannot be replaced in accordance with paragraph 1 or 2, the Chairman shall designate a technically qualified member from another Board. In so doing he shall obtain the consent of the Chairmanof that Board and have regard in particular to the criteria indicated in Article 3, paragraph 2.
(4) If a legally qualified member cannot be replaced in accordance with paragraph 1, the Chairman shall designate a legally qualified member from another Board. In so doing he shall obtain the consent of the Chairman of the Legal Board of Appeal and have regard in particular to the criteria indicated in Article 3, paragraph 2.
(5) The President of the Boards of Appeal shall be informed of the application of paragraphs 3 and 4.
Article 5
Designation of a replacement member by the President of the Boards of Appeal
If a member of a board cannot be replaced by applying Article 4, the President of the Boards of Appeal shall designate the replacement member.
Article 6
Composition of the board where a number of appeals are closely linked
Where appeals pending before the Board are closely linked, in particular by involving similar legal or factual questions, the Chairman may order that the board shall decide in the same composition.
Article 7
Transitional provisions
Cases in which before 1 January 2021 a communication has been sent or oral proceedings have been appointed shall not be affected by this business distribution scheme, nor shall those cases individually allocated in transitional provisions of previous business distribution schemes. This provision applies mutatis mutandis if the business distribution scheme is amended during the working year.
Article 8
Term of validity
This business distribution scheme shall apply from 1 January 2021 until 31 December 2021.
Done at Haar on 16 December 2020
For the Presidium
The Chairman
C. JOSEFSSON
1 The Chairman is indicated by (Ch), the Chairman's deputy is indicated by an asterisk (*), technically qualified members by (TM) and legally qualified members by (LM).