A. Procédure de recours
Overview
A. Procédure de recours
1.Nature juridique de la procédure de recours
2.Formation et recevabilité du recours
3.Examen du recours au fond
4.Nouveaux moyens invoqués dans la procédure de recours – jurisprudence relative au RPCR 2020
j)Ne relèvent pas de l'article 12(6), première phrase, RPCR 2020 : moyens admis en première instance
5.Nouveaux moyens invoqués dans la procédure de recours – jurisprudence relative au RPCR 2007
7.Clôture de la procédure de recours
8.Motifs de la décision
9.Renvoi à la première instance
10.Autorité des décisions de renvoi à l'instance du premier degré
11.Remboursement de la taxe de recours
- T 1558/22
Orientierungssatz:
Zum Argument, ein neuer Hilfsantrag sei nur eine Korrektur und keine Änderung im Sinne Art 13(2) VOBK, Gründe 5.1 bis 5.5
- T 884/22
Catchword:
Zu einem Antrag auf Zurückverweisung zur weiteren Prüfung von erstinstanzlich nicht behandelten Hilfsanträgen, Gründe 4.1 und 4.2
- T 682/22
Catchword:
Different interpretation of Article 109(1) EPC from that provided for in the Guidelines for Examination in the EPO - application of Article 20(2) RPBA 2020 (see point 2.4.3 of the Reasons).
- T 307/22
Orientierungssatz:
Ein von der Einspruchsabteilung nicht zugelassenes Dokument kann in der Beschwerde durchaus zugelassen werden, wenn die Vorinstanz verkannt hat, dass der beanspruchten Erfindung nur eine Teilpriorität zukommt und das erstinstanzlich nicht zugelassene Dokument als Stand der Technik für die Frage der erfinderischen Tätigkeit der nicht prioritätsberechtigten Alternativen des unabhängigen Anspruchs relevant ist.
- T 248/22
Catchword:
Any reasons as to why an amendment to a party's appeal case overcomes an objection which is not part of the decision under appeal or of the appeal proceedings do not constitute valid reasons for admitting the amendment in view of Article 12(4) RPBA, second paragraph.
- T 1800/21
Orientierungssatz:
1. Es scheint sich eine einheitliche Rechtsprechungslinie dahingehend zu entwickeln, dass in Fällen, in denen durch eine unkomplizierte Änderung wie das Streichen einer gesamten Anspruchskategorie eine Antragsfassung vorliegt, auf deren Basis das Patent erkennbar aufrechterhalten werden kann, außergewöhnliche Umstände im Sinne von Artikel 13(2) EPÜ vorliegen können. Diese erlauben dann eine positive Ermessensausübung, wenn die Änderung den faktischen oder rechtlichen Rahmen des Verfahrens nicht verschiebt, keine Neugewichtung des Verfahrensgegenstandes bedingt und weder dem Grundsatz der Verfahrensökonomie, noch den berechtigten Interessen einer Verfahrenspartei zuwiderläuft (im Anschluss an T 2295/19; siehe Gründe Nr. 3.4.2 bis 3.4.6) 2. Diese Rechtsprechung fügt sich hinsichtlich des Grades der geforderten prima facie Relevanz in die Stufen des mit der VOBK etablierten Konvergenzansatzes ein und führt diesen logisch fort (vgl. Gründe Nr. 3.4.7). 3. Es besteht keine Notwendigkeit (mehr), zur Sicherung einer einheitlichen Rechtsanwendung die Große Beschwerdekammer zu befassen (vgl. Gründe Nr. 4 bis 4.4).
- T 1686/21
Catchword:
Exceptional circumstances may justify the admissibility of a request filed for the first time at the oral proceedings before the board even when the amendment to the case is made in response to an objection of added subject-matter raised long in advance (see Reasons, 1.5).
- T 1678/21
Catchword:
1. From the company name of an appellant alone it can generally not be derived that the appellant does not meet the conditions of Rule 6(4,5) EPC in conjunction with European Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003 for payment of the reduced appeal fee. This applies even where a company name is well-known. 2. Where it is not clear from the file at the end of the appeal period whether or not an appellant at the point in time of payment of the reduced fee meets the conditions of Rule 6(4,5) EPC, no clear intention to pay the regular appeal fee can be detected that under the principles of T 152/82 would entitle the EPO to ex officio debit the amount of the regular fee. 3. An appellant who gives a debit order for payment of the reduced appeal fee even though it clearly does not meet the conditions of Rule 6(4,5) EPC commits an obvious mistake in the meaning of J 8/80 and G 1/12. Such an appellant is imputed to have had the clear intention to pay the regular fee, reason why no evidence to prove this intention is required. 4. The exhaustive criteria to assess Rule 139 EPC are "principles" (a) to (c) of G 1/12, i.e. essentially those of J 8/80, points 4 and 6: (a) The correction must introduce what was originally intended. (b) Where the original intention is not immediately apparent, the requester bears the burden of proof, which must be a heavy one. The same applies, pursuant to J 8/80, point 6, where the making of the mistake is not self-evident. (c) The error to be remedied may be an incorrect statement or an omission. complemented by criterion (d) balancing of the public interest in legal certainty with the interest of the party requesting correction, with the factors (i.e. sub-criteria of this criterion) relevant to the specific case.
- T 1558/21
Catchword:
1. Entspricht der Antrag, der der Entscheidung der Einspruchsabteilung zugrunde liegt, zum Zeitpunkt der Entscheidung nicht dem Willen einer Partei, so ist diese Partei beschwert und ihre Beschwerde gegen die Entscheidung zulässig (Punkt 1.1 der Entscheidungsgründe). 2. Die Kammer sieht es als erwiesen an, dass die Entscheidung der Einspruchsabteilung nicht auf der beabsichtigten Fassung des Hilfsantrags beruht, die in der mündlichen Verhandlung erörtert wurde. Im vorliegenden Fall hat die Einspruchsabteilung entweder über den falschen Antrag entschieden, der nicht dem Tenor der Entscheidung entspricht, oder aber über einen Antrag, zu dem die Parteien nicht gehört wurden. Beides stellt einen schwerwiegenden Verfahrensmangel dar, und daher ist die Entscheidung aufzuheben (Punkte 3.4 - 3.6 der Entscheidungsgründe). 3. Ein Fehler in einem während der mündlichen Verhandlung eingereichten Anspruchssatz, der Teil einer in der mündlichen Verhandlung verkündeten Entscheidung geworden ist, ist weder einer späteren Korrektur über Regel 140 EPÜ zugänglich, noch über Regel 139 EPÜ, sofern es ihm an der Offensichtlichkeit mangelt (Punkte 5.1 - 5.5 der Entscheidungsgründe).
- T 1041/21
Orientierungssatz: Gründe 5.1, 6, 7
- T 1006/21
Catchword: 1. The discretionary decision under Article 111(1) EPC to remit a case or not is to be taken ex officio, at any time during the appeal proceedings. It is not dependent on any request by a party. A request for remittal made by a party is therefore not subject to the provisions of Articles 12 and 13 RPBA 2020 (points 23 and 24 of the Reasons). 2. Articles 12 and 13 RPBA 2020 serve to take account of changes in the facts or the subject-matter of the appeal proceedings ("amendments" within the meaning of Articles 12(4) and 13(1) and (2) RPBA), within narrow limits (point 25 of the Reasons). 3. Procedural requests are not amendments within the meaning of Articles 12(4) and 13(1) and (2) RPBA. They can therefore be made at any time during the appeal proceedings and must be considered by the board, regardless of when they are made (points 26 to 29 of the Reasons)
- T 916/21
Catchword:
Im vorliegenden Fall konnte von der Beschwerdeführerin nicht erwartet werden, auf einen einzelnen Aspekt einer in ihrer Gesamtheit nicht überzeugenden Argumentationslinie in der angefochtenen Entscheidung der Prüfungsabteilung mit auf diesen Aspekt gerichteten Änderungen, die alle Einwände der Beschwerdekammer ausräumen, bereits bei Einlegen der Beschwerde zu reagieren.
- T 599/21
Catchword:
Using a passage of the description to interpret a term in the claims does not constitute an "exceptional circumstance" which could justify amendments to the appeal case in the present case (see reasons point 5).
- T 433/21
Catchword:
1. Neither the omission of a procedural act nor an error caused by miscommunication between the applicant and the representative or by an incorrect recollection of the applicant's instructions can be regarded as an error under Rule 139 EPC, provided that the document filed with the EPO is deemed to express the representative's intention at the time of filing. 2. A request for correction of a declaration of withdrawal of an appeal under Rule 139 EPC does not reopen the appeal proceedings, but only starts ancillary proceedings to decide whether the appeal proceedings should be reopened.
- T 424/21
Catchword:
1. If the deletion of dependent claims after notification of a summons to oral proceedings enhances procedural economy by clearly overcoming existing objections without giving rise to any new issues this might constitute cogent reasons justifying exceptional circumstances in the sense of Article 13(2) RPBA 2020.
2. For a first medical use of a substance or composition according to Article 54(4) EPC to be sufficiently disclosed it is not required to show the suitability for each and every disease, but it usually suffices to show that at least one medical use is credibly achieved.
- T 71/21
Catchword:
Berichtigung der Erklärung betreffend die Methode für die Entrichtung der Beschwerdegebühr im Formblatt 1038 - Ermittelung der ursprünglichen Absicht bei der Auswahl der Zahlungsmethode, siehe Entscheidungsgründe 6.4
- T 18/21
Orientierungssatz:
Nicht-Zulassung eines spät eingereichten prozeduralen Antrags (Punkt 2 der Entscheidungsgründe)
- T 2019/20
Catchword:
The substance of the request filed during the oral proceedings before the board - i.e. the claimed subject-matter and the attacks against it - is fully encompassed by both the appellant's and the respondent's initial appeal case within the meaning of Article 12(1) to (3) RPBA. The request certainly limits the potential issues for discussion. This means that, in view of the totality of the facts of the present case, the filing of this request, although formally an amendment and as such potentially subject to the strict provisions of Article 13(2) RPBA, in substance does not constitute an amendment of a party's case within the meaning of Article 12(4) RPBA, but rather a partial abandonment of the initial appeal case. There is no apparent reason not to admit such a request under any of the Articles 12(5), 13(1) or 13(2) RPBA. (Reasons 23.)
- T 1800/20
Orientierungssatz:
Ein Antrag mit einem Anspruchssatz, der in dem erstinstanzlichen Verfahren eingereicht, jedoch nicht verbeschieden wurde, wird im Beschwerdeverfahren nicht automatisch zugelassen sondern daraufhin geprüft, ob er im erstinstanzlichen Einspruchsverfahren in zulässiger Weise vorgebracht und aufrechterhalten wurde. Dabei ist das Kriterium der Konvergenz mit höherrangigen Anträgen zu berücksichtigen. Sollte der Antrag nicht in zulässiger Weise vorgebracht und aufrechterhalten worden sein, hat die Kammer das Ermessen ihn nicht zuzulassen. Siehe Punkte 3.1 bis 3.7 der Entscheidungsgründe.
- T 1617/20
Catchword:
Prima facie allowability under Article 123(2) EPC of a late filed amended claim request may be a valid criterion to be used by the opposition division when deciding on the admittance of this claim request. However, using this criterion, to object for the first time at oral proceedings to a feature of the late-filed claim request that was already present in higher ranking claim requests and had never been objected to before, not even when deciding on the allowability or admittance of those higher-ranking claim requests, goes against the principles of fairness and good faith (see point 2.6.11 of the reasons).
- T 1362/20
Catchword: Siehe Gründe Punkt 1.1
- T 955/20
Catchword:
1. A request for reimbursement of the appeal fee under Rule 103(1)(a) EPC can no longer be filed after the department of first instance has granted interlocutory revision (Reasons 2).
2. If the department of first instance grants interlocutory revision only to refine the written reasons which already complied with Rule 111(2) EPC, this may constitute a substantial procedural violation (Reasons 1).
- T 920/20
Catchword:
Artikel 12(4) VOBK 2020 enthält keine Einschränkung dahin, dass sich jede Partei in der Beschwerde nur auf diejenigen Gegenstände des Vorverfahrens beziehen dürfte, die sie selbst dort "in zulässiger Weise vorgebracht" hat. Daher erscheint es legitim, sich auch auf Angriffslinien zu beziehen, die von anderen Beteiligten ins Einspruchsverfahren eingeführt worden waren. Geschieht dies, liegt insoweit daher keine zulassungsbedürftige Änderung des Vorbringens vor (siehe Punkt 4.4).
- T 714/20
Catchword:
The principles expressed in Article 12(6) RPBA 2020 for the admittance of non-maintained or non-admitted requests may be considered in the exercise of discretion to admit amendments based on such requests under Article 12(4) RPBA 2020.
- T 664/20
Exergue:
1) Le mémoire exposant les motifs du recours d'un requérant (opposant) doit comprendre l'ensemble des moyens couvrant toutes les requêtes pendantes devant la division d'opposition, y compris celles qui n'ont pas été considérées dans la décision contestée. Faute de quoi, le réquérant s'expose à ce que des moyens déposés après le mémoire exposant les motifs du recours et visant des requêtes subsidiaires pendantes devant la division d'opposition et déposées en réponse au mémoire de recours par le propriétaire du brevet soit écartés de la procédure (point 3 des motifs). 2) Lorsqu'un propriétaire de brevet modifie une revendication de produit en énonçant que le produit est destiné à une utilisation particulière, alors c'est à lui qu'appartient la charge de la preuve de démontrer que les produits de l'état de la technique cités contre la nouveauté et satisfaisant à toutes les autres caractéristiques de la revendication sont inaptes à l'utilisation en question (point 9 des motifs). 3) Une formulation dite « en cascade » de caractéristiques est susceptible d'entraîner une ambiguïté de la revendication. Lorsqu'une revendication est définie comme incluant une classe générique de composés présents dans une gamme pondérale et que la revendication est modifiée « en cascade » en indiquant que la classe générique est un composé spécifique, alors la gamme pondérale s'applique à ce composé spécifique, et non plus à la classe générique (point 11 des motifs). La portée de la revendication ne doit pas être interprétée sur la base d'une prétendue intention du rédacteur de la revendication, mais doit être appréciée sur la base de ses caractéristiques. L'ambiguïté d'une formulation « en cascade » ne peut pas être utilisée pour interpréter la revendication comme excluant tous les composés de la classe générique autres que ceux mentionnés ou en imposant une limitation pondérale à l'ensemble de la classe générique (point 12 des motifs)(T0999/10 - non suivi
- T 641/20
Orientierungssatz:
Die Frage, ob ein Ermessen fehlerfrei, zum Beispiel unter Berücksichtigung der richtigen Kriterien ausgeübt wurde, ist eine inhaltliche Frage materiell-rechtlicher Natur, und keine verfahrensrechtliche. Daher liegt in einer inhaltlich unrichtigen Ermessensentscheidung, die unter korrekter Anwendung der Verfahrensvorschriften des EPÜ ergangen ist, kein Verfahrensmangel im Sinne der Regel 103 (1) a) EPÜ (Entscheidungsgründe Punkt 1.4).
- T 532/20
Catchword:
In general, an auxiliary request which is directed to a combination of granted dependent claims as new independent claim, and filed after the statement of grounds or the reply thereto, will be an amendment of the party's appeal case within the meaning of Article 13 RPBA 2020. See reasons 9. A skilled person assessing the contents of the original application documents uses his technical skill. If they recognise that certain elements of the original application documents are essential for achieving a technical effect then adding that technical effect to a claim without also adding the essential elements can create fresh subject-matter even if the essential elements are originally portrayed as being optional. See reasons 3.6.3.
- T 364/20
Catchword:
To judge whether a claim request was admissibly raised in opposition proceedings within the meaning of Article 12(4) RPBA 2020, a board has to decide whether the opposition division should have admitted the claim request, had a decision on admittance been required. If so, the claim request was admissibly raised (reasons, point 7). As a rule, claim requests filed in reply to the notice of opposition within the time limit set under Rule 79(1) EPC should have been admitted by the opposition division and were thus admissibly raised. Not admitting these claim requests and thus considering them not to have been admissibly raised must be limited to truly exceptional situations (reasons, points 7.1.2 and 7.1.3). Whether or not a claim request filed after the expiry of the time limit set under Rule 79(1) EPC and before the expiry of the time limit set under Rule 116(1) EPC is to be considered filed in due time depends on whether this request was submitted in direct and timely response to a change to the subject of the proceedings introduced by the opponent or the opposition division. Opposition divisions have the discretion to not admit any late-filed claim request and therefore the board has the discretion to consider a late-filed claim request not to have been admissibly raised (reasons, points 7.2.4 and 7.2.6). The criteria generally used by the boards of appeal when exercising their discretion to admit or not a party's submission in appeal under the Rules of Procedure 2020 may also be considered when deciding whether or not a late-filed claim request submitted after the expiry of the time limit set under Rule 79(1) EPC and before the expiry of the time limit set under Rule 116(1) EPC should have been admitted by the opposition division and was thus admissibly raised. However, when taking this decision, in view of the administrative character of opposition proceedings, these criteria should be used by the boards in a more lenient way than for a party's submission filed during appeal proceedings. In fact, to properly defend its patent, a patent proprietor must in principle be permitted to redefine its fallback positions in terms of auxiliary claim requests also at a late stage of opposition proceedings (reasons, points 7.2.7 and 7.2.10).
- T 141/20
Orientierungssatz:
Falls das Patent mit der Einspruchsentscheidung in erteilter oder geänderter Fassung aufrechterhalten wird, wären zusätzliche, in der Rangfolge niedriger stehende Hilfsanträge im Einspruchsverfahren nicht unbedingt im Sinne von Artikel 12(6) VOBK 2020 vorzubringen gewesen. Solchen am Beginn des Beschwerdeverfahrens eingereichten Anträgen kann die Zulassung ins Beschwerdeverfahren nicht ausschließlich unter Verweis auf diese Bestimmung verwehrt werden, siehe Punkt 5.4 der Entscheidungsbegründung.
- T 2843/19
Orientierungssatz:
Zur Notwendigkeit einer rechtzeitigen Replik:
1. Unter der seit 1. Januar 2020 geltenden Verfahrensordnung der Beschwerdekammern (VOBK 2020) obliegt es den Parteien, ihren Vortrag so rechtzeitig im Verfahren zu bringen, dass die Beschwerdekammer ihn bereits bei Abfassung des Ladungsbescheids berücksichtigen kann.
2. Soweit die Beschwerdeführerin einen Teil ihres Vortrags nicht, wie es Artikel 12 Abs. 3 VOBK 2020 eigentlich fordert, bereits in der Beschwerdebegründung unterbreiten kann, weil es sich um die Antwort auf Angriffe bzw. Hilfsanträge handelt,die nicht bereits Gegenstand der angegriffenen Entscheidung waren, sondern von der Beschwerdegegnerin in der Beschwerdeerwiderung unterbreitet wurden, stellt eine Replik hierauf für die Beschwerdeführerin das geeignete Mittel der Wahl dar, um ihre Antwort rechtzeitig vorzubringen. Gerade aus diesem Grund sieht Artikel 15 (1) VOBK 2020 vor, dass die Kammer sich bemüht, nicht früher als zwei Monate nach Erhalt der Beschwerdeerwiderung (gemäß Artikel 12 (1) c) VOBK 2020) die Ladung zu versenden.
3. Das Argument, es sei nicht zumutbar, Kaskaden von Argumentationslinien im Hinblick auf jede denkbare Einschätzung der Kammer vortragen zu müssen, greift nicht. Im zweiseitigen Beschwerdeverfahren trifft die Parteien die Pflicht zur sorgfältigen und beförderlichen Verfahrensführung, aus Gründen der Fairness gegenüber der anderen Partei, aber auch um das Verfahren innerhalb einer angemessenen Verfahrensdauer zum Abschluss zu bringen. Artikel 13 (2) VOBK 2020 sanktioniert diese Pflicht zur Verfahrensförderung.
4. Das Argument der Beschwerdeführerin, es sei der Kammer und auch der Patentinhaberin zumutbar, sich in der mündlichen Verhandlung mit der Diskussion eines einfachen neuen Sachverhaltes zu beschäftigen, lässt den Einfluss auf den weiteren Verfahrensverlauf außer Acht. Die erstmalige Diskussion einer Argumentationslinie in der mündlichen Verhandlung mag zu einer Situation führen, in der die andere Partei ihre Verteidigungslinie erstmalig in der mündlichen Verhandlung überdenken und ggf. anpassen muss, was zu einer deutlichen Verzögerung des Verfahrens führen und eine sachgerechte ntscheidung in der mündlichen Verhandlung erschweren oder unmöglich machen kann.
- T 2599/19
Catchword:
Since the initial main request, filed for the first time with the statement of grounds of appeal, would not have been admitted under Article 12(4) RPBA 2007, the objections raised by the board in the communication annexed to the summons to oral proceedings against this initial main request are of a hypothetical nature and do not establish exceptional circumstances referred to in Article 13(2) RPBA 2020 which could justify amending the applicant's appeal case.
- T 2465/19
Catchword:
Admittance under Article 13(2) RPBA of claims and an adapted description filed as a response to the express invitation of the Board in its communication under Article 15(1) RPBA to file such amended application documents (Reasons 3).
- T 2381/19
Catchword:
1. Two successive appeals, interlocutory revision, request for reimbursing first or second appeal fee. 2. Giving one single ground for the refusal, presently a violation of Article 123(2) EPC, may not be procedurally optimal, but is in itself not a procedural violation. Depending on the subject-matter claimed, it can be a defendable procedure to refrain from examining certain substantive issues, such as inventive step and novelty, as long as the division is not convinced that the potential distinguishing features have a proper basis under Article 123(2) EPC. An erroneous assessment of a substantive issue by the division is not a substantial procedural violation, either. In sum, there was no basis for the ordering of the reimbursement of the (first) appeal fee in the decision allowing the interlocutory revision (Reasons 5.9). 3. The board notes that the applicant may not have been able to avoid paying the second appeal fee in all circumstances. Even assuming for the sake of argument that the division would not have allowed the interlocutory revision and instead would have referred the first appeal to the Board of Appeal under Article 109(2) EPC, the payment of a second appeal fee might still have become unavoidable. Since the first refusal decision only dealt with added subject-matter, it would still have been quite likely that the case would have been remitted to the examining division for examination of the outstanding substantive issues even after a successful (first) appeal (Reasons 5.13). 4. Once the examining division reopens the examination, it is formally not prevented from re-examining all the issues which were already the subject of the previous decision. The principle of prohibition of reformatio in peius does not apply in this situation (Reasons 5.18).
- T 2352/19
Catchword:
If, as in the present case, no causality exists between a newly raised aspect and the final conclusion of the Board, the newly raised aspect does not qualify as an exceptional circumstance according to Article 13(2) RPBA 2020 that could justify taking a new request into account. (Reasons 2.5.2)
- T 2295/19
Catchword:
Änderung eines Anspruchssatzes durch Streichung von Ansprüchen. Zur Frage seiner Zulassung unter Artikel 13 (2) RPBA 2020 siehe Entscheidungsgründe Nr. 3.4.1 bis 3.4.14
- T 2257/19
Catchword:
An inescapable trap (Article 123(2) and (3) EPC) intrinsically precludes the admission of new requests under Articles 13(1) and (2) RPBA 2020, as the requirements of Article 123(2) and (3) EPC cannot both be satisfied (Reasons 4.3).
- T 2201/19
Catchword:
Ein nach der Ladung zur mündlichen Verhandlung eingereichter neuer Hilfsantrag, der nur noch einen bereits im von der Einspruchsabteilung aufrechterhaltenen Hauptantrag enthaltenen unabhängigen Verfahrensanspruch enthält, während alle anderen vorrangigen (Produkt-)Ansprüche gestrichen wurden, kann dann nicht als grundsätzlich unberücksichtigt bleibende Änderung des Beschwerdevorbringens im Sinne des Artikels 13(2) VOBK 2020 angesehen werden, wenn das bisherige Vorbringen der Beteiligten bereits eine hinreichende Grundlage zur Entscheidung über den neuen Hilfsantrag bietet (abweichend von T 2091/18, vgl. Punkt 5 der Gründe).
- T 1906/19
Catchword:
The Board understands [the wording of Article 13(2) RPBA 2020] as laying down a basic rule but leaving some limited leeway for exceptions. The basic rule is that amendments are not considered unless there are exceptional circumstances justified by cogent reasons (by the submitting party). The leeway for deviating from this rule lies in the expression "in principle" ("en principe"; "grundsätzlich"), which the Board reads roughly as "as a rule", meaning that the provision's basic rule is not entirely without exception. This leeway, when applied, means that an amendment can be considered despite the absence of exceptional circumstances justified by cogent reasons.
- T 1731/19
Catchword:
There is no right of the parties to choose in which form the Board of Appeal should exercise its competences under Article 111(1) EPC. The Board is entitled to decide on the issue of admittance of auxiliary requests without being bound to the respondent's request for prioritisation of the request for remittal. (Reasons, points 8.2 to 8.4)
- T 1474/19
Catchword:
I. A debit order has to be interpreted on its substance, according to the (objectively) clear intention of the appellant expressed therein to pay a fee in the applicable amount.
II. Under the Arrangements for deposit accounts valid as from 1 December 2017 (ADA 2017), a debit order having the clear purpose of paying a particular fee (here: the appeal fee) authorises the EPO to debit that fee in the applicable amount.
- T 727/19
Catchword:
1. The Guidelines, Part E, Chapter XI, set out the procedure whereby the reasons of a responsible superior's decision rejecting a challenge to the impartiality of a division can be appealed. This procedure does not make the responsible superior's decision formally appealable (Reasons 2.3 and 2.4).
2. The unexplained omission of the reasons of the responsible superior's decision from the final decision of the division justifies the suspicion of partiality and constitutes a substantial procedural violation (Reasons 2.9 and 2.15).
3. The principle of the prohibition of "reformatio in peius" is not applicable where a case is to be remitted to a division in a new composition because of a suspicion of partiality (Reasons 5.5 and 5.6).
- T 620/19
Catchword:
A characteristic employed in the prior art concerned was introduced to the claims as a limitation. This amendment was not suitable for addressing the fundamental novelty issue in the case. In that sense, the amended claim set (auxiliary request 5) did not "[relate] to the case under appeal" and was not taken into account (Article 12(4) RPBA 2007).
- T 463/19
Catchword:
Aufgrund folgender außergewöhnlicher Umstände ist das von der Einsprechenden verspätet eingereichte Dokument E65a im Sinne der Artikel 13 (1) und (2) VOBK 2020 im Verfahren zu berücksichtigen: - Das Dokument war objektiv schwer auffindbar. - Es wurde zweifellos nicht absichtlich zurückgehalten, sondern von einem Dritten erstmals in einem vom vorliegendem Einspruchsverfahren getrennten Einspruchsverfahren entgegengehalten und ist hierdurch der Einsprechenden bekannt geworden. - Es gehört prima facie zum Stand der Technik. - Es ist prima facie sehr relevant. (Siehe Punkt 3.3 der Entscheidungsgründe)
- T 355/19
Catchword:
Modification des moyens selon l'article 13(2) RPCR ; recevabilité de requêtes dans lesquelles certaines revendications indépendantes sont supprimées ; échelonnement des requêtes subsidiaires déposées tout au long de la procédure de recours qui donne lieu à une approche "par tâtonnements" ou une tactique par élimination (tactique du "salami") (voir points 2 et 3 des motifs).
- T 339/19
Catchword:
"Exceptional circumstances" in Rule 13(2) RPBA interpreted as those that compromise neither the procedural rights of the other party, nor procedural economy.
- T 84/19
Catchword:
Eligibility requirements for paying a reduced appeal fee by an appellant - opponent in case of opposition filed as a straw man (Reasons 1 to 9.2).
- T 2920/18
Catchword:
Amendment of a set of claims by deletion of claims. Admittance of said amended set of claims pursuant to Article 13(2) RPBA 2020: see points 3.1 to 3.16 of the Reasons for the Decision.
- T 2866/18
Catchword:
Whether the documents which are taken as starting points for newly raised inventive step objections were previously used for objections regarding a lack of novelty has no bearing for determining whether these inventive step objections constitute an amendment to the opponent's appeal case under Article 13(2) RPBA 2020 (Reasons 4.7).
- T 2632/18
Catchword:
That a "new" objection was raised by a board in appeal proceedings cannot per se amount to "exceptional circumstances" within the meaning of Article 13(2) RPBA 2020 (see point 4.3 of the Reasons).
- T 2120/18
Catchword:
1. An opposition division's rejection of a request for extension of the time limit indicated in its communication under Rule 79(1) EPC does not terminate the opposition proceedings. Therefore, a patent proprietor is in a position to respond to the notice of opposition beyond the expired time limit or, at least, request the rejection of the opposition as well as oral proceedings. The patent proprietor must anticipate that an opposition division may issue its decision after expiration of the time limit (see Reasons 4.5, 4.6 and 4.9).
2. There is no legal basis for a duty on the part of the opposition division to notify the patent proprietor in advance of its intention to reach a decision, even if that decision concerns the revocation of the patent (see Reasons 4.8, 4.10 and 4.11).
3. If a patent proprietor chooses not to file any submissions during the opposition proceedings but to present them only with its statement of grounds of appeal, this amounts to bringing an entirely fresh case in appeal proceedings. This is at odds with the primary object of the appeal proceedings to review the decision under appeal in a judicial manner. Consequently, a board has the discretion under Article 12(4) RPBA 2007 not to admit the patent proprietor's defence submissions into the appeal proceedings. This does, however, not necessarily lead to revocation of the patent. The decision under appeal is still to be reviewed by the board, which might overturn the impugned decision, for example if it is not convinced by the reasons given by the opposition division or in the event of a substantial procedural violation (see Reasons 5.5 and 5.6).
- T 2117/18
Catchword:
In order to substantiate an objection in the appeal proceedings which the Opposition Division did not consider convincing, it is necessary to provide specific reasons why the finding and the reasoning in the decision under appeal is supposedly incorrect with regard to this objection (Reasons 2.2.2-2.2.11). As a rule, in appeal proceedings general references to submissions made in the proceedings before the departments of first instance are not taken into account due to a lack of substantiation. Attaching the notice of opposition to the statement of grounds of appeal is to be considered equivalent to such a general reference to previous submissions (Reasons 2.2.13-2.2.14). An objection is to be considered to have been validly submitted only at the time on which sufficient substantiation is provided (Reasons 2.2.17).
- T 2073/18
Catchword:
Special reasons present in the sense of Article 11 (1) RPBA 2020 (see point 6 of the reasons for the decision).
- T 2361/18
Catchword:
If a request for oral proceedings is withdrawn after a date for oral proceedings has been set but before the notification of a communication issued in preparation for the oral proceedings, the withdrawal occurs "within one month of notification" for the purpose of Rule 103(4)(c) EPC.
- T 2125/18
Catchword:
Notification of the statement of grounds of appeal is not a Rule 100(2) EPC communication (Reasons 1.4)
Article 13(2) RPBA – “in principle” (Reasons 2.1)- T 2080/18
Catchword:
siehe Punkt 5.1.
- T 1869/18
Catchword:
While objections raised by the Board for the first time in a communication under Article 15(1) RPBA 2020 may be considered to give rise to exceptional circumstances within the meaning of Article 13(2) RPBA 2020, and may possibly justify the filing of amendments which specifically respond to the new objections, this does not open the door to additional amendments which are unrelated to the new objections, and for which no exceptional circumstances exist (Reasons, point 3.10).
- T 1842/18
Catchword: Entscheidungsgründe 4
- T 1042/18
Catchword:
1.) Im Beschwerdeverfahren bestehen Beschränkungen neuen Vorbringens sowohl durch die Rechtsprechung der Großen Beschwerdekammer in G 10/91, G 1/95 und G 7/95 zur Berücksichtigung neuer Einspruchsgründe, als auch durch die den Kammern in Artikel 114 (2) EPÜ und der Verfahrensordnung der Beschwerdekammern eingeräumte Möglichkeit, verspätetes Vorbringen nicht zuzulassen. Diese Beschränkungen bestehen unabhängig voneinander und wirken kumulativ (Nr. 4.5 der Gründe).
2.) Vorbringen, das nicht auf die in der Beschwerdebegründung oder Erwiderung enthaltenen Anträge, Tatsachen, Einwände, Argumente und Beweismittel gerichtet ist, bewirkt eine Änderung des Beschwerdevorbringens im Sinne des Artikel 13 (2) VOBK (J 14/19, Nr. 1.4 der Gründe). In diesem Zusammenhang stellt sowohl eine neue Kombination von Tatsachenelementen (z.B. die Wahl einer anderen Entgegenhaltung oder einer anderen Textstelle einer Entgegenhaltung als Ausgangspunkt für einen Einwand erfinderischer Tätigkeit) als auch eine neue Kombination von Tatsachen- und Rechtselementen (z.B. die Bezugnahme auf ein Dokument oder eine Textstelle in einem anderen rechtlichen Zusammenhang) eine Änderung des Beschwerdevorbringens dar. Ein in der mündlichen Verhandlung vor der Beschwerdekammer erstmals vorgetragener Einwand mangelnder erfinderischer Tätigkeit ausgehend von einer Entgegenhaltung, die zuvor lediglich Gegenstand eines Neuheitseinwandes war, stellt somit regelmäßig eine Änderung des Beschwerdevorbringens gemäß Artikel 13 (2) VOBK 2020 dar. (Nr. 4.9 der Gründe).
- T 750/18
Catchword:
The requirement under Article 12(2) RPBA 2007 to present a complete case does not imply that an appellant/opponent, impugning a decision to maintain a patent in granted or amended form, has to raise objections against all dependent claims (point 4.2 of the reasons).
- T 695/18
Catchword:
1. "Proceedings" to be re-opened under Article 112a(5) EPC following an allowable petition are limited to rectifying the defect found according to the review decision. The present proceedings as re-opened by the Enlarged Board in R 3/22 are thus not the appeal proceedings, but "ancillary proceedings" with the limited purpose to decide on the request for correction of the withdrawal of the appeal (see point 2 of the Reasons). 2. Rule 139 EPC is applicable only if proceedings before the EPO for some other purpose are pending when the request for correction is received by the EPO. The request for correction is inadmissible if received when no such proceedings are pending (see point 3 of the Reasons). 3. A patent application subject to the examining division's refusal, which is in turn subject to an appeal that has been withdrawn, is not "pending" within the meaning of Rule 36(1) EPC (see point 4 of the Reasons).
- T 494/18
Catchword:
A request in which some claims have been deleted compared to the requests that were filed previously with the grounds of appeal or the reply is, according to the systematic context of Article 12(3) RPBA 2020 and Article 13 RPBA 2020, a new request and thus usually amounts to an "amendment to the party's appeal case".
- T 116/18
Catchword:
- Binding effect of a referring decision (see Reasons, points 9 to 9.4.5)
- Interpretation of order no. 2 of G 2/21 (see Reasons, points 10 to 11.14, in particular points 11.10 and 11.14)
- Submissions based on earlier decisions of the boards of appeal
- admittance into the appeal proceedings (see Reasons, points 32 to 32.4, in particular point 32.3)- T 77/18
Catchword:
The respondent's requests regarding the ground for opposition under Article 100 c) EPC confront the Board with the issue of admittance of a new ground for opposition which was raised during the oral proceedings before the opposition division but had deliberately not been decided upon by the opposition division. In the absence of a positive decision on admittance by the opposition division, the Board considers that the ground for opposition under Article 100 c) EPC should be treated as a fresh ground at the appeal stage and its admittance should be governed by the principles set forth in G 10/91, which require the proprietor's consent for its introduction in the appeal proceedings. In view of the appellant's refusal thereto, the ground for opposition under Article 100 c) is not to be introduced in the appeal proceedings.
- T 2360/17
Catchword:
As to the divergence in the jurisprudence of the Boards of Appeal concerning the notion of an "amendment" within the meaning of Article 12(4) RPBA 2020, see point 2.4 of the Reasons.
- T 1656/17
Catchword:
There is no legal basis in the EPC or the RPBA (in the versions of 2007 and 2020) that prevents the board from examining in the case at hand an objection of lack of inventive step raised by the respondent in the appeal proceedings against the patent as granted or as amended that was not addressed in the decision under appeal. Nor does the case law prevent the board from doing so. This means that the board may examine whether such an objection is substantiated, whether it should be admitted into the appeal proceedings and whether it prejudices the maintenance of the patent as granted or as amended, as the case may be. (See section 2 of the Reasons)]
- T 1190/17
Catchword:
Le fait que la chambre ait retenu un argument nouveau (absence d'effet technique clairement identifiable) dans la chaîne argumentaire conduisant au constat provisoire d'absence d'activité inventive ne saurait être ignoré. Il justifie que les requêtes qui visent et se limitent à remédier à cette objection soient admises.
- T 988/17
Catchword:
Weder Artikel 13(2) VOBK 2020 noch die erläuternden Bemerkungen dazu in CA/3/19 enthalten eine Erklärung, wie allgemein zu bestimmen ist, ob die Umstände "außergewöhnlich" sind. Die Erläuterungen der VOBK 2020 nennen als Beispiel für solche "außergewöhnlichen" Umstände allerdings den Fall, dass die Kammer einen Einwand erstmals in einer Mitteilung erhoben hat. In diesem Fall rechtfertige die veränderte Grundlage des Beschwerdeverfahrens ein verändertes Vorbringen. Die Frage, ob umgekehrt durch geändertes Vorbringen auch die Grundlage des Beschwerdeverfahrens verändert wird, stellt somit ein mögliches Kriterium dar, das für die Beurteilung der Außergewöhnlichkeit der Umstände heranzuziehen ist (Punkt 6.3 der Entscheidungsgründe).
- T 882/17
Catchword:
If the opponent is the sole appellant against an interlocutory decision maintaining a patent in amended form, an objection related to the inadmissibility of the opposition is subject to the principle of the prohibition of reformatio in peius. In such a procedural situation, the Board is prohibited from ordering the maintenance of the patent as granted due to the inadmissibility of the opposition (Reasons 3.19).
- T 803/17
Catchword:
The yardstick for determining whether the position of an appellant is, because of its own appeal, worsened in a way which is incompatible with the principle of the prohibition of reformatio in peius is the order of the decision under appeal, in particular the order's legal effect on the appellant. If an opposition is considered inadmissible in the appeal proceedings, an appellant whose opposition was rejected in the decision under appeal as unallowable would not be in a worse position than if it had not appealed, as in both cases the patent would be maintained as granted. The legal reasons leading to this result, including whether the opposition is rejected as inadmissible or unallowable, do not fall within the scope of the principle of the prohibition of reformatio in peius (Reasons 3.5).
- T 574/17
Catchword:
If there is an amendment to the patent in the appeal proceedings which has never been examined before, the Enlarged Board's obiter dictum in G 10/91, Reasons 19, is fully respected when only the prima facie relevance of an objection under Article 123(2) EPC is considered in the context of assessing whether there are exceptional circumstances under Article 13(2) RPBA 2020 (Reasons 2.3.1-2.3.14).
- T 2179/16
Catchword:
Admittance of objections raised in appeal, said objections having been raised before the opposition division against a different claim request (point 4.3 of the Reasons
- T 755/16
Catchword:
A request not to admit a certain document, this request having been filed for the first time during oral proceedings before the board, may constitute an amendment of the appeal case the admittance of which is governed by Article 13(2) RPBA 2020 (point 3 of the reasons).
- T 1807/15
Catchword:
If more than one summons are issued in appeal proceedings, both after the entry into force of the revised version of the Rules of Procedure, the first of these summons are the summons referred to in Article 13(2) RPBA 2020. Summons represent a predictable and objectively determinable trigger for the third level of convergence. This trigger function is independent of any subsequent procedural development, see reasons 2. The postponement of oral proceedings due to a request for a referral of a question of law to the Enlarged Board of Appeal which was not announced in advance by the party making the request normally does not justify apportionment of costs. Since there is no guarantee that such a request will be successful, all parties will normally have to prepare for a discussion of the substance of the case irrespective of whether the request is announced in advance or not, see reasons 8.
- T 960/15
Catchword:
The Boards of Appeal may review discretionary decisions. There are, however, limits on the extent of review that reflect the discretion accorded to the deciding body. In the present case, the Opposition Division decided to consider document D8 and the review of this decision is a primary object of the appeal proceedings (Article 12(2) RPBA 2020) - see Reasons 1 - 9.
- Compilation 2023 “Abstracts of decisions”
- Rapport annuel: jurisprudence 2022
- Résumés des décisions dans la langue de procedure