II. BUSINESS DISTRIBUTION 2021
II.1 - Business distribution scheme of the Enlarged Board of Appeal for 2021
The Enlarged Board of Appeal,
having regard to Rule 13 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),
and to Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Rules of Procedure of the Enlarged Board of Appeal,
hereby adopts the following business distribution scheme:
PART I:
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1
Members of the Enlarged Board of Appeal
(1) The internal members of the Enlarged Board of Appeal (Article 11(3) EPC) are:
Chairman:
Carl Josefsson
Legally qualified members:
Ingo Beckedorf
Martina Blasi
Fritz Blumer
Tamás Bokor
Jean Geschwind
Bernhard Müller
David Rogers
Wolfgang Sekretaruk
Wim van der Eijk
Technically qualified members:
Paola Acton
Gabriele Alt
Marco Alvazzi Delfrate
Roland Bekkering
Ernst Bendl
Kemal Bengi-Akyuerek
William Chandler
Albert de Vries
Gunnar Eliasson
Pascal Gryczka
Andreas Haderlein
Michael Harrison
Christoph Herberhold
Philipp Lanz
Albert Lindner
Richard Lord
Marcus O. Müller
Martin Müller
Giovanni Pricolo
Andrea Ritzka
Jean-Michel Schwaller
Paul Scriven
Daniele Semino
Beat Stolz
Ambrogio Usuelli
Brigitte Willems
(2) The external legally qualified members of the Enlarged Board of Appeal (Article 11(5) EPC) are:
Erarbër Madhi (AL)
Michael Sachs (AT)
Samuel Granata (BE)
Anna Dimitrova (BG)
Yves Rüedi (CH)
Aleš Sabol (CZ)
Klaus Grabinski (DE)
Tine Sommer (DK)
Ele Liiv (EE)
Jussi Karttunen (FI)
Marie-Christine Courboulay (FR)
Richard Arnold (GB)
Evangelos Chatzikos (GR)
Brian Cregan (IE)
(until 28.02.21)
Paolo Catallozzi (IT)
Goda Ambrasaitė-Balynienė (LT)
Muriel Dorato-Chicouras (MC)
Robert van Peursem (NL)
Per Kaare Nerdrum (NO)
Per Carlson (SE)
(until 28.02.21)
Magda Teppey (SI)
Adem Aslan (TR)
PART II:
PROCEEDINGS UNDER ARTICLE 112 EPC
Article 2
Composition of the Enlarged Board of Appeal in proceedings under Article 112 EPC
(1) Decisions shall be taken by an Enlarged Board of Appeal consisting of seven members, of whom no more than two may have the same nationality.
(a) The regular members shall be:
Chairman:
Carl Josefsson
Legally qualified members:
Ingo Beckedorf*
Fritz Blumer
Tamás Bokor
Wim van der Eijk
Technically qualified members:
Gunnar Eliasson
Andrea Ritzka
(b) replaced as necessary by the following alternates:
Legally qualified members:
Wolfgang Sekretaruk
Bernhard Müller
David Rogers
Martina Blasi
Jean Geschwind
Technically qualified members:
Pascal Gryczka
Giovanni Pricolo
Michael Harrison
Albert de Vries
Albert Lindner
Gabriele Alt
William Chandler
Roland Bekkering
Richard Lord
Ernst Bendl
Daniele Semino
Paola Acton
Beat Stolz
Paul Scriven
Marcus O. Müller
Jean-Michel Schwaller
Martin Müller
Kemal Bengi-Akyuerek
Marco Alvazzi Delfrate
Andreas Haderlein
Ambrogio Usuelli
Philipp Lanz
Christoph Herberhold
Brigitte Willems
(2) The substitute for the Chairman shall be one of the legally qualified members in the order listed in paragraph 1(a).
(3) Where a regular member has participated in a case referred to the Enlarged Board of Appeal or in a decision which is the subject of a referral of the President of the European Patent Office, the Chairman shall, after consulting the regular members (paragraph 1(a)), appoint as substitute a member from amongst the alternates (paragraph 1(b)) or an external legally qualified member in accordance with paragraph 5. The same applies if a regular member is prevented from participating.
(4) If a case involving a question of substantive patentability or other points of law having a technical aspect is referred to the Enlarged Board, the Chairman may, after consulting the regular members, designate a technically qualified member with the relevant technical knowledge from amongst the alternates (paragraph 1(b)), as substitute for a technically qualified regular member.
(5) If a case whose scope extends beyond the internal administration of the European Patent Office is referred to the Enlarged Board, the Chairman may, after consulting the regular members, designate one or two external legally qualified members (Article 1(2)) to replace one or two legally qualified regular members.
Article 3
Designation of external legally qualified members
(1) The external legally qualified members shall be called upon in the alphabetical order used by the Administrative Council for listing the Contracting States, provided there is a match between the language of the proceedings and their working language(s).
(2) Newly appointed external legally qualified members will not be called upon until the next round, if at the date of their appointment another member who is further down the list according to Article 1(2) has already been called upon.
(3) Should an external legally qualified member be unavailable, then the next external legally qualified member according to Article 1(2) is to be called upon.
(4) Where an external legally qualified member is unavailable because the language of the proceedings does not correspond to his working languages, he shall be called upon for the next case in his working language under Article 2(5).
Article 4
Composition of the Enlarged Board where a number of referrals are closely linked
Where several referrals pending before the Enlarged Board are closely linked by involving similar points of law, the Chairman may order that the Board shall decide in the same composition. In such a case the composition shall be the same as for the first received referral.
PART III:
PROCEEDINGS UNDER ARTICLE 112a EPC
Article 5
Composition of the Enlarged Board of Appeal in proceedings under Article 112a EPC
Decisions shall be taken by an Enlarged Board consisting of three or five members.
The regular members shall be:
Chairman:
Carl Josefsson
Legally qualified members:
Wim van der Eijk
Ingo Beckedorf*
Fritz Blumer
Tamás Bokor
Wolfgang Sekretaruk
Bernhard Müller
David Rogers
Martina Blasi
Jean Geschwind
Technically qualified members:
Gunnar Eliasson
Andrea Ritzka
Pascal Gryczka
Giovanni Pricolo
Michael Harrison
Albert de Vries
Albert Lindner
Gabriele Alt
William Chandler
Roland Bekkering
Richard Lord
Ernst Bendl
Daniele Semino
Paola Acton
Beat Stolz
Paul Scriven
Marcus O. Müller
Jean-Michel Schwaller
Martin Müller
Kemal Bengi-Akyuerek
Marco Alvazzi Delfrate
Andreas Haderlein
Ambrogio Usuelli
Philipp Lanz
Christoph Herberhold
Brigitte Willems
Article 6
Composition of an Enlarged Board consisting of three members
(1) On receipt of a petition for review by the registry, the Chairman shall, from amongst the regular members, determine the composition of the Board which is to examine it pursuant to Rule 109(2)(a) EPC.
(2) Individual cases shall be assigned to the regular members of the Enlarged Board one after another in the order of their listing in Article 5. The Chairman may depart from this order for serious reasons, such as illness, workload, language requirements of the case or, in designating the technically qualified member, the possession of relevant technical expertise. In that event the next member in the order indicated in the first sentence shall be appointed in accordance with the above criteria. A member not appointed on account of the second sentence or of paragraph 3 shall be appointed to the next case in accordance with the above criteria.
(3) If a regular member is excluded under Article 2(6) of the Rules of Procedure of the Enlarged Board of Appeal from taking part in the review proceedings, the Chairman shall appoint another regular member as substitute in accordance with paragraph 2.
(4) The substitute for the Chairman shall be one of the legally qualified regular members listed in Article 5.
(5) The Chairman may designate one external legally qualified member (Article 1(2)) to replace one legally qualified regular member in accordance with Article 3.
Article 7
Composition of an Enlarged Board consisting of five members
(1) Once a petition for review has been submitted, under Article 17 of the Rules of Procedure of the Enlarged Board of Appeal, to a Board composed according to Rule 109(2)(b) EPC, the Chairman shall designate the additional legally qualified members from amongst the regular members in accordance with Article 6(2).
(2) Article 6(3) and (5) shall apply mutatis mutandis.
Article 8
Composition of the Enlarged Board where a number of petitions for review are closely linked
Where several petitions for review pending before the Enlarged Board are closely linked, the Chairman may order that the Board shall decide in the same composition. In such a case the composition for all petitions shall be as for the petition received first.
Article 9
Change of a composition
(1) If the Chairman cannot or can no longer participate in the case to which he has been assigned, he shall be replaced by one of the legally qualified regular members listed in Article 5.
(2) If a member cannot or can no longer participate in the case to which he has been assigned, the Chairman shall designate another member in accordance with Articles 6 and 7.
PART IV:
PROCEEDINGS UNDER ARTICLE 23(1), FIRST SENTENCE, EPC
Article 10
Composition of the Enlarged Board of Appeal in proceedings under Article 23(1), first sentence, EPC
(1) Decisions shall be taken by an Enlarged Board of Appeal composed according to the provisions of Article 22(2), first sentence, EPC and Article 2(5) RPEBA. No more than two members may have the same nationality.
(2) The regular and alternate members are those listed in Article 2(1)(a) and (b). The external legally qualified members are those listed in Article 1(2).
(3) The alternate for the Chairman shall be one of the regular legally qualified members in the order listed in Article 2(1)(a).
(4) Subject to paragraphs 1 and 3, regular members shall be appointed by the alternate for the Chairman in the order listed in Article 2(1)(a). Where a regular legally qualified member is prevented from participating, the alternate for the Chairman shall appoint the next regular legally qualified member on the list. Where no regular member is available, the alternate for the Chairman shall, after consulting the regular members (Article 2(1)(a)), appoint as substitute a member from amongst the alternates (Article 2(1)(b)).
(5) External members will be appointed in accordance with Article 3.
PART V:
FINAL PROVISION
Article 11
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 Enlarged Board of Appeal
The Chairman
C. JOSEFSSON
* The Chairman's deputy is indicated by an asterisk (*).