Engineering and Designs practice group partner James Short, and Chemical and Materials practice group partner Rohan Setna have contributed to the recently published Patent Litigation Law Review – Edition 4.
Their chapter, entitled “Oppositions and appeals before the European Patent Office”, discusses the European Patent Office's streamlined opposition procedure and the general trend of the practice of the Boards of Appeal in respect of opposition cases in the light of the updated Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal.
The full chapter and the rest of the book can be accessed here.
The information provided in this publication is general and may not apply in a specific situation, nor does it necessarily represent the views of authors’ firms or their clients. Legal advice should always be sought before taking any legal action based on the information provided. The publishers accept no responsibility for any acts or omissions contained herein. Although the information provided was accurate as at October 2020, be advised that this is a developing area.
Recently, there have been changes not only to the opposition procedure, but also to the appeals process. In an effort to enhance the independence of the Boards of Appeal, in June 2016, the Implementing Regulations of the European Patent Convention were amended to allow the Boards of Appeal to be organised as a separate unit within the European Patent Office with its own president who is answerable only to the Administrative Council, the body that oversees the work of the European Patent Office. This has been accompanied by the relocation of the Boards of Appeal to Haar in October 2017. The first president of the Boards of Appeal, Carl Josefsson, assumed the role in March 2017. It is possible that the change in structure of the Boards of Appeal could lead to significant changes to the way the Boards operate.
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