Article 12

BOARDS OF APPEAL

BUSINESS DISTRIBUTION 2025

Business distribution scheme of the Enlarged Board of Appeal for 20251

The Enlarged Board of Appeal,

having regard to Rule 13 of the Implementing Regulations to the European Patent Convention ("EPC")

and to Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Rules of Procedure of the Enlarged Board of Appeal ("RPEBA"),

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:

Chair:

Carl Josefsson

(a) Legally qualified members:

Ingo Beckedorf*

Fritz Blumer

Tamás Bokor

David Rogers

Bernhard Müller

Jean Geschwind

Martina Blasi

Eric Mille

Roberto Romandini

Yvonne Podbielski

Birgit Burm-Herregodts

(b) Technically qualified members:

Pascal Gryczka

Giovanni Pricolo

Michael Harrison

William Chandler

Roland Bekkering

Ernst Bendl

Daniele Semino

Paola Acton

Paul Scriven

Marcus O. Müller

Jean-Michel Schwaller

Martin Müller

Kemal Bengi-Akyuerek

Marco Alvazzi Delfrate

Ambrogio Usuelli

Andreas Haderlein

Philipp Lanz

Brigitte Willems

Christoph Herberhold

Thomas Häusser

Magdalena Pregetter

Teresa Sommerfeld

Guy Patton

Andrea Pieracci

(2) The external legally qualified members of the Enlarged Board of Appeal (Article 11(5) EPC) are:

Michael Sachs

Robert van Peursem

Per Kaare Nerdrum

Anna Dimitrova

Adem Aslan

Jussi Karttunen

Ele Liiv

Richard Arnold

Aleš Sabol

Goda Ambrasaitė-Balynienė

Tine Sommer

Yves Rüedi

Magda Teppey

Evangelos Chatzikos

Eleonora Viegas

Hermann Deichfuß

Per Carlson

Dragica Popesku

Silvia Giani

Mirna Maržić

Laura di Bona

Florencio Molina López

Pierre-Yves de Harven

Yiota Kythreotou Theodorou

Ervin Pollozhani

Agnieszka Gołaszewska

Vladimir Bulatović

Nathalie Sabotier

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. Only those nationalities which were held at the time of first appointment as a member of the Boards of Appeal and which are retained shall be taken into consideration for this purpose.

(a) The regular members shall be:

Chair:

Carl Josefsson

Legally qualified members:

Ingo Beckedorf*

Fritz Blumer

Tamás Bokor

David Rogers

Technically qualified members:

Pascal Gryczka

Giovanni Pricolo

(b) replaced as necessary by the following alternates:

Legally qualified members:

Bernhard Müller

Jean Geschwind

Martina Blasi

Eric Mille

Roberto Romandini

Yvonne Podbielski

Birgit Burm-Herregodts

Technically qualified members:

Michael Harrison

William Chandler

Roland Bekkering

Ernst Bendl

Daniele Semino

Paola Acton

Paul Scriven

Marcus O. Müller

Jean-Michel Schwaller

Martin Müller

Kemal Bengi-Akyuerek

Marco Alvazzi Delfrate

Ambrogio Usuelli

Andreas Haderlein

Philipp Lanz

Brigitte Willems

Christoph Herberhold

Thomas Häusser

Magdalena Pregetter

Teresa Sommerfeld

Guy Patton

Andrea Pieracci

(2) The substitute for the Chair 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 Chair 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 Chair 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 Chair 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 their working languages, they shall be called upon for the next case in their 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 Chair may order that the Board shall decide on them 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:

Chair:

Carl Josefsson

Legally qualified members:

Ingo Beckedorf*

Fritz Blumer

Tamás Bokor

Bernhard Müller

David Rogers

Jean Geschwind

Martina Blasi

Eric Mille

Roberto Romandini

Yvonne Podbielski

Birgit Burm-Herregodts

Technically qualified members:

Pascal Gryczka

Giovanni Pricolo

Michael Harrison

William Chandler

Roland Bekkering

Ernst Bendl

Daniele Semino

Paola Acton

Paul Scriven

Marcus O. Müller

Jean-Michel Schwaller

Martin Müller

Kemal Bengi-Akyuerek

Marco Alvazzi Delfrate

Ambrogio Usuelli

Andreas Haderlein

Philipp Lanz

Brigitte Willems

Christoph Herberhold

Thomas Häusser

Magdalena Pregetter

Teresa Sommerfeld

Guy Patton

Andrea Pieracci

Article 6

Composition of an Enlarged Board consisting of three members

(1) On receipt of a petition for review by the registry, the Chair 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 Chair 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), second sentence, RPEBA from taking part in the review proceedings, the Chair shall appoint another regular member as substitute in accordance with paragraph 2.

(4) The substitute for the Chair shall be one of the legally qualified regular members listed in Article 5.

(5) The Chair 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 RPEBA to a Board composed according to Rule 109(2)(b) EPC, the Chair 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 Chair may order that the Board shall decide on them 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 Chair cannot or can no longer participate in the case to which they have been assigned, they 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 they have been assigned, the Chair 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. Only those nationalities which were held at the time of first appointment as a member of the Boards of Appeal and which are retained shall be taken into consideration for this purpose.

(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 Chair 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 Chair in the order listed in Article 2(1)(a). Where a regular legally qualified member is prevented from participating, the next regular legally qualified member on the list shall be appointed. Where no regular member is available, after consultation of the regular members (Article 2(1)(a)), a member from amongst the alternates (Article 2(1)(b)) shall be appointed as substitute.

(5) External members will be appointed in accordance with Article 3.

PART V:

COMMON PROVISIONS GOVERNING PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE ENLARGED BOARD OF APPEAL

Article 11

Exclusion and objection

(1) For the purpose of taking a decision on exclusion or objection under Article 24, paragraph 4, EPC, the Chair in the particular case or other members concerned shall be replaced by their alternates. Where applicable, the composition shall respect the above provisions on nationality.

(2) The alternate to the Chair shall be the Chair's deputy as set out in Article 1(1)(a).

(3) The alternate to an internal legally qualified member shall be the next internal legally qualified member on the list as set out in Article 1(1)(a), with the first member on the list being the alternate to the last one on the list.

(4) The alternate to a technically qualified member shall be the next technically qualified member on the list as set out in Article 1(1)(b), with the first member on the list being the alternate to the last one on the list.

(5) The alternate to an external legally qualified member shall be the next external legally qualified member on the list as set out in Article 1(2), with the first member on the list being the alternate to the last one on the list.

(6) If the alternate according to paragraphs 2 to 5 is unavailable, the next member on the respective list shall become the alternate.

PART VI:

FINAL PROVISION

Article 12

Term of validity

This business distribution scheme shall apply from 1 January 2025 until 31 December 2025.

Done at Haar on 19 December 2024

For the Enlarged Board of Appeal

The Chair

C. JOSEFSSON