Communications des Chambres de recours de l'Office européen des brevets

La Grande Chambre de recours a rendu aujourd'hui l’avis G 1/18 sur la distinction à apporter entre un recours réputé non formé et un recours irrecevable, et ses conséquences.

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...

Les chambres de recours ont de nouveau amélioré leurs performances en 2018. Du 1er janvier 2017 au 31 décembre 2018, le nombre de dossiers de recours techniques réglés a augmenté de 22,6 % et la productivité (c'est-à-dire le nombre de dossiers de recours réglés par une action divisé par la capacité des membres techniciens) de 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.

The aim of the revision of the RPBA is to improve the appeal procedure in terms of predictability, consistency, efficiency, legal security and duration.

The revised draft of the Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal (RPBA) agreed upon by Boards of Appeal Committee (BOAC) and the President of the Boards of Appeal is now available in English

Conformément à l'article 112(1)b) CBE, le Président de l'Office européen des brevets a soumis à la Grande Chambre de recours la question de droit suivante : Lorsque la formation d'un recours et/ou la taxe de paiement [ 1 ] ont lieu après l'expiration du délai de deux mois prévu à l'article 108 CBE, le recours est-il irrecevable ou réputé non formé, et la taxe de recours doit-elle être remboursée ?

The proceedings in case T 1063/18 concern the appeal of the patent applicant against the decision of an examining division to refuse the European patent application No. 12 756 468.0 (publication No. EP 2 753 168) for the sole reason that the claimed subject-matter falls within the exception to patentability according to Article 53(b) and Rule 28(2) EPC

At the "User consultation conference", users of the system will have the opportunity to hear presentations and panel discussions on the revised public draft of the RPBA.

The President of the European Patent Office has referred a point of law concerning the interpretation of Article 108 EPC to the Enlarged Board of Appeal.

The Boards of Appeal increased their performance in 2017. The number of technical cases settled increased by 2.5%, and the number of technical cases on which the Boards started work rose by 12.4% (in terms of first communications issued).