The Boards of Appeal are the first and final judicial instance in the procedures before the European Patent Office (EPO). They have the task of reviewing contested decisions of the Office's departments of first instance within the framework of the European Patent Convention (EPC). They are headed by the President of the Boards of Appeal.
Decisions database
All decisions of the Boards of Appeal are contained in a searchable decisions database which is updated daily.
For a summary of the jurisprudence of the Boards of Appeal arranged by topic (e.g. novelty, inventive step) please refer to the publication "Case Law of the Boards of Appeal" (2022 edition).
Appeal procedure
For general information on the procedure before the Boards of Appeal, consult the section "Procedure".
Statistics
Detailed statistics on proceedings before the Boards and other information on the activities of the Boards are published in the Annual report of the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office.
