Communications from the Boards of Appeal 2019

The Enlarged Board of Appeal today issued opinion G 1/18 on the distinction between an appeal deemed not to have been filed and an inadmissible appeal, and on the consequences of this.

Yesterday the Enlarged Board of Appeal announced its decision in case G 2/19 at the conclusion of the oral proceedings.

The revised Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal (RPBA) were adopted by the Boards of Appeal Committee on 4 April 2019 and were unanimously approved by the Administrative Council at its 160th meeting on 26 and 27 June 2019. They will come into force on 1 January 2020, and are therefore referenced below as “RPBA 2020”.

The Enlarged Board of Appeal has summoned the parties in case G 2/19, “Recht auf mündliche Verhandlung bei ersichtlich unzulässiger Beschwerde und rechtliches Gehör am richtigen Ort”, to oral proceedings on 16 July 2019 in the Isar building

The Boards of Appeal offer a limited number of internship places for national judges of the EPC contracting states. For details of the programme see...

The Boards of Appeal again increased their performance in 2018. From 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2018, the number of technical cases settled increased by 22.6% and productivity (i.e. cases settled with action divided by technical member capacity) by 18%.

Technical Board of Appeal 3.3.04, in an enlarged composition consisting of three technically and two legally qualified members, decided that Rule 28(2) EPC was in conflict with Article 53(b) EPC as interpreted by the Enlarged Board of Appeal in decisions G 2/12 and G 2/13.

A new form (EPO Form 3002) has been created for parties choosing to file notice of appeal on paper. The form, which is optional, is designed to help parties avoid typical mistakes when filing the notice of appeal. In particular, it indicates the information to be provided so that the minimum requirements for the content of the notice of appeal under Rule 99(1) EPC are met.