2. Formation de l'opposition et conditions à remplir pour qu'elle soit recevable

Résumé

In T 1529/20 the appellant (proprietor) submitted that they had never received the decision of the opposition division revoking their patent and that they had only become aware of it and, more generally, of the opposition proceedings, through an email from a formalities officer of the EPO.

The board explained that with the abolition of advices of delivery for notification of decisions by registered letter (see OJ 2019, A31), it was the practice of the EPO at the time to enclose an acknowledgement of receipt (Form 2936) with notifications by registered letter of decisions incurring a period for appeal and summonses. Addressees were requested to date and sign the form and return it immediately, as evidence of receipt (see OJ 2019, A57).

The board established that the present file did not contain a confirmation of receipt of the decision of the opposition division from the appellant. Since the EPO could not prove whether the registered letter had reached the appellant, as required by the provisions of R. 126(2) EPC in force at the relevant time, it had to be accepted that the legal fiction of deemed notification did not apply and the appellant became aware of the appealed decision for the first time with the email from the formalities officer. This date was therefore the date of notification of the decision. Thus, the appeal was timely filed.

With regard to the right to be heard, the board held that, as argued by the appellant, the missing opportunity to present their arguments during the opposition proceedings amounted to a substantial procedural violation (Art. 113(1) EPC).

The board observed that, even in view of the notice of the EPO concerning implementation of amended R. 126(1) EPC (OJ 2019, A57) – which did not require to enclose an acknowledgement of receipt (Form 2936) with the communication of the notice of opposition – the requirements of Art. 113 EPC had to be complied with. Before a negative decision revoking a patent was issued, it had to be established that the patent proprietor had been duly informed about the initiation of opposition proceedings. The board explained that the notice of the EPO merely determined the format of notifications. However, the provisions of R. 126(2) EPC remained unaffected. R. 126(2) EPC defined a rebuttable fiction of notification, which, in case of dispute, had to be verified. The burden of proof lied with the EPO.

The board agreed with the appellant that a party submitting that something had not happened, i.e. that a communication had not been received, was in difficulties in trying to prove a negative (negativa non sunt probanda, see also T 2037/18, R 15/11, R 4/17). The filing of cogent evidence showing that a letter was not received was hardly ever possible (see also J 9/05). Therefore, the respondent's arguments that the appellant allegedly had the duty to register mail incoming at their premises but failed to provide an excerpt of such register was not pertinent, since there was no trace in the file that the EPO discharged its burden of proving delivery. Under such circumstances, the appellant did not have to bear the risks normally falling in their sphere of responsibility (T 1535/10), so that they have to be given the benefit of the doubt (J 9/05).

According to the board, in the present case legal certainty and the protection of the right to be heard would have required that the opposition division had established, by any available means, the fact and date of delivery of the communication of the notice of opposition.

The patent proprietor could decide not to react to the notice of opposition. Nevertheless, the communication under R. 79(1) EPC was not a mere formality. Rather, it had the function of allowing the patent proprietor to both contribute to the opposition division's appreciation of the facts and to defend their interests. Since the initial act of (non-)notification of the notice of opposition was flawed, the entire opposition proceedings including the decision of the opposition division was flawed.

Thus, the board set aside the appealed decision and remitted the case to the opposition division for further prosecution. The appeal fee was reimbursed.

Résumé

In T 1445/22 the appellant requested the admittance into the appeal proceedings of late-filed documents D10 to D12, D14, D15 and D20, which had not been admitted into the opposition proceedings for being prima facie not relevant with respect to the sufficiency of disclosure objection, as well as D26 and D27 filed with the statement of grounds of appeal.

The board first examined Art. 12(6), first sentence, RPBA and noted that evidence submitted by an opponent after the expiry of the nine-month period according to Art. 99(1) EPC was generally to be regarded as late-filed. Exceptions to this rule were where such evidence could not have been filed earlier, for example where the subject of the proceedings had changed. This was typically the case where new claim requests were filed such that there was no reason to file the evidence in response thereto any earlier or where the opposition division had raised a new issue.

In the case in hand the opposition division had not raised any new aspects in its preliminary opinion, but rather reiterated the position, given by the respondent (patent proprietor) in its reply to the notice of opposition. The board found therefore that there had been no change in the subject of the proceedings before the opposition division which would have led to new evidence being considered to be timely filed.

The board also did not consider the circumstances leading to the obtainment of the evidence by the party filing it as relevant for the issue of whether a document was filed in due time. These circumstances were external to the proceedings and it would run counter to the concept of discretionary power if that discretion were denied to a deciding body by circumstances external to the proceedings. Were such discretion to be denied, then all documents created or coming to light at any stage of the proceedings that were filed by a party would automatically be part of the proceedings. However, this would undermine the nine-month period under Art. 99(1) EPC which aims to establish the factual and legal framework within which the substantive examination of the opposition is, in principle, conducted, allowing the patent proprietor a fair chance to consider its position at an early stage of the proceedings (see G 10/91, point 6 of the Reasons, and T 1002/92). Therefore, documents D10 to D12, D14, D15 and D20 had not been filed in due time and the opposition division had the discretion, under Art. 114(2) EPC, not to admit them.

The appellant (opponent) argued that it had not been given the opportunity to present detailed arguments based on documents D10 to D12, D14, D15 and D20, as only prima facie relevance had been discussed before the opposition division. The board found, however, that the appellant had in fact had the opportunity to present its arguments relating to the admittance and prima facie relevance of those documents during the opposition proceedings. It also noted it was established case law that a board of appeal should only overrule the way an opposition division exercised its discretion if it did so according to the wrong principles, not taking into account the right principles or in an unreasonable way. It was, therefore, not the function of a board of appeal to review all the facts and circumstances of the case to decide whether it would have exercised its discretion in the same way or not. In the case in hand the opposition division had regarded D10 to D12 as representing common general knowledge which did not need to be supported, and it could not see the relevance of D14, D15 or D20 for supporting the objection to insufficiency of disclosure. Thus, the opposition division had considered these documents as prima facie not relevant and had exercised its discretion reasonably, according to the right principles, after hearing both parties.

In its statement of grounds of appeal, the appellant had further requested that documents D10 to D12, D14, D15 and D20 be admitted into the appeal proceedings with respect to the appellant's lack of inventive step objections. The board decided to exercise its discretion under Art. 114(2) EPC and Art. 12(4) RPBA and not admit these documents into the appeal proceedings as none of the documents were suitable to address the issues which led to the decision under appeal.

In addition, the board found that there was no change in the opposition proceedings or particular circumstances in the present case which necessitated the filing of documents D26 and D27 for the first time in the appeal proceedings. D26 and D27 could and should have been filed during the opposition period. Therefore, the board did not admit them into the appeal proceedings (Art. 12(6), second sentence, RPBA and Art. 12(4) RPBA).

Résumé

In T 846/22 the respondent (patent proprietor) questioned the status of the appellant as a legal person in the context of Art. 99(1) EPC, according to which "any person may give notice to the European Patent Office of opposition [ ... ] in accordance with the Implementing Regulations". "Any person" is to be interpreted in line with Art. 58 EPC as "any natural or legal person, or any body equivalent to a legal person by virtue of the law governing it" (G 3/99, OJ 2002, 347; G 1/13, OJ 2015, 42).

The respondent had submitted that the appellant, a UK company, had been a "dormant company" under UK law at the time of filing the opposition and had never changed this status. The respondent argued that this meant that the appellant was not entitled to conduct any business and could not be equated to a legal person.

The board noted that the status of a legal person as such, i.e. the question as to whether they had the capacity to sue or be sued, was a matter of national law. The right to bring opposition proceedings, to take part in such proceedings, to file an appeal and to take part in appeal proceedings was, by contrast, a matter of procedural law governed by the EPC (G 1/13, point 5.3 of the Reasons with reference to G 3/97, OJ 1999, 245, point 2.1 of the Reasons). Hence, it had to be established whether the appellant, in particular at the time of filing the notice of opposition and the notice of appeal, had the status of a legal person.

The board referred to Section 1169 of the (UK) Companies Act 2006, according to which a company is dormant during any period in which it has no significant accounting transactions. Although inactive, a dormant company was not struck off, but remained on the Companies House register. This meant that a dormant company maintained the status of a legal person. The board thus agreed with the conclusion drawn to this effect in T 184/11.

It followed therefore that the appellant had the status of a legal person at the time of filing the notice of opposition and throughout the opposition and appeal proceedings. The respondent's argument in this respect was therefore not convincing.

Whether the appellant had engaged in transactions which could have led to the loss of its dormant status went beyond the assessment of its status as a legal person. The assessment of potential financial relationships between a dormant company and an appointed representative was of no relevance to establishing the legal status of the company as a legal person either. Moreover, the opponent's representative was appointed in accordance with the requirements of the EPC. Hence, there was no reason for the board to doubt that the representative was duly authorised. The remaining provisions under the EPC for the admissibility of the opposition and appeal, including the payment of the relevant fees, were also complied with.

As regards the contention that the appellant had been acting on behalf of a third party with the intention of avoiding any liability for possible costs apportioned to the appellant under Art. 104 EPC, the board noted that acting on behalf of a third party could not be seen as a circumvention of the law unless further circumstances were involved and there was no requirement under the EPC that a party be equipped with sufficient financial means to comply with a merely hypothetical costs order. Moreover, the EPC did not offer the patent proprietor any kind of guarantee that an opponent would be able in fact to reimburse costs awarded against them (G 3/97, point 3.2.6 of the Reasons).

For these reasons, the board did not see any abuse of procedure by the appellant which might render the opposition and/or the appeal inadmissible.

The board thus refused the respondent's requests that the decision under appeal be set aside and the opposition be held inadmissible or that the appeal be held inadmissible.

Résumé

In T 1893/22, the proprietor-appellant had requested an enlargement of the board due to the case potentially setting a precedent regarding proper representation in proceedings established by the EPC. The board held that the case did not go beyond what might be handled by a board with an ordinary composition. Mr N, the representative of the opponent, a French company in the form initially of a SASU (société simplifiée unipersonnelle), was the President of the SASU and also a professional representative.

The proprietor had contested the admissibility of the opposition relying on the following points: (i) the opponent's professional representative could not represent the company since he was simultaneously managing the legal entity he represented; (ii) the identity of the opponent was not unequivocally determined; (iii) the opponent carrying out activities reserved to professional representatives without the necessary qualifications circumvented the principles of representation; (iv) the opponent's change of name; (v) the reference in the notice of opposition to the German translation of the claims.

Concerning the representation, the board stated that – contrary to the proprietor's allegations – Art. 133 and 134 EPC together with R. 152 EPC and the Decision of the President of the EPO of 12 July 2007 on the filing of authorisations (OJ SE 3/2007, 128) indeed constituted a complete and self-contained set of rules on representation in proceedings established by the EPC (a request in this respect to refer the question to the Enlarged Board was also submitted by the proprietor). A legal person having its seat in an EPC contracting state is not obliged to be represented by a professional representative (Art. 133(1) EPC). Furthermore, persons whose names appear on the list of professional representatives are entitled to act in all proceedings established by the EPC (Art. 134 EPC). A legal person having its seat in an EPC contracting state can act in proceedings before the EPO through its legal representatives. At the time the opposition was filed, Mr N in his capacity as President of the SASU was entitled to represent the SASU since under French law (Art. L. 227 Commercial Code) he was entitled to act on behalf of the legal person in all circumstances. Mr N as a professional representative would have been entitled to act not only as the president of the SASU, but also as a professional representative appointed by that legal person.

For the sake of completeness, the board detailed why neither the references to French law (Civil Code) nor German law, nor the reference to general principles under Art. 125 EPC could, in its view, prevent the company from appointing Mr N as its professional representative before the EPO.

Regarding the identity of the opponent, the board held that the opposition was clearly filed on behalf of SARL Cabinet NÜ (see the notice of opposition which mentioned the initial legal form of the company "SASU Cabinet NÜ"). The only uncertainty, based on the submissions of the proprietor itself, concerned whether Mr N was representing the opponent as a European patent attorney or in his capacity as the president of that company. Nonetheless, this alleged ambiguity could not raise any doubt about the identity of the opponent.

The alleged circumvention of the law was also rejected by the board, which observed first that this would occur if a person not entitled to act as a professional representative performed all the activities typically carried out by professional representatives while assuming the role of a party, in order to circumvent the prohibition on unqualified representation, but Mr N was a qualified professional representative.

As regards the change of the opponent's name, the board endorsed the analysis set out in the contested decision (Art. 15(8) RPBA). A change of legal form of the company (SASU to SARL) had taken place, which indicated a change of name and not a transfer of assets to a different entity. The use of the old legal form on the company stationery in a submission filed close to the date of change of the legal form did not undermine this. The reference to the German version of the claims did not make the respective attacks incomprehensible. In conclusion, the opposition was admissible and the request for a referral was rejected. The appeal was also dismissed.