Skip to main content Skip to footer
HomeHome
 
  • Homepage
  • Searching for patents

    Patent knowledge

    Access our patent databases and search tools.

    Go to overview 

    • Overview
    • Technical information
      • Overview
      • Espacenet - patent search
      • European Publication Server
      • EP full-text search
    • Legal information
      • Overview
      • European Patent Register
      • European Patent Bulletin
      • European Case Law Identifier sitemap
      • Third-party observations
    • Business information
      • Overview
      • PATSTAT
      • IPscore
      • Technology insight reports
    • Data
      • Overview
      • Technology Intelligence Platform
      • Linked open EP data
      • Bulk data sets
      • Web services
      • Coverage, codes and statistics
    • Technology platforms
      • Overview
      • Plastics in transition
      • Water innovation
      • Space innovation
      • Technologies combatting cancer
      • Firefighting technologies
      • Clean energy technologies
      • Fighting coronavirus
    • Helpful resources
      • Overview
      • First time here?
      • Asian patent information
      • Patent information centres
      • Patent Translate
      • Patent Knowledge News
      • Business and statistics
      • Unitary Patent information in patent knowledge
    Image
    Plastics in Transition

    Technology insight report on plastic waste management

  • Applying for a patent

    Applying for a patent

    Practical information on filing and grant procedures.

    Go to overview 

    • Overview
    • European route
      • Overview
      • European Patent Guide
      • Oppositions
      • Oral proceedings
      • Appeals
      • Unitary Patent & Unified Patent Court
      • National validation
      • Request for extension/validation
    • International route (PCT)
      • Overview
      • Euro-PCT Guide – PCT procedure at the EPO
      • EPO decisions and notices
      • PCT provisions and resources
      • Extension/validation request
      • Reinforced partnership programme
      • Accelerating your PCT application
      • Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)
      • Training and events
    • National route
    • Find a professional representative
    • MyEPO services
      • Overview
      • Understand our services
      • Get access
      • File with us
      • Interact with us on your files
      • Online Filing & fee payment outages
    • Forms
      • Overview
      • Request for examination
    • Fees
      • Overview
      • European fees (EPC)
      • International fees (PCT)
      • Unitary Patent fees (UP)
      • Fee payment and refunds
      • Warning

    UP

    Find out how the Unitary Patent can enhance your IP strategy

  • Law & practice

    Law & practice

    European patent law, the Official Journal and other legal texts.

    Go to overview 

    • Overview
    • Legal texts
      • Overview
      • European Patent Convention
      • Official Journal
      • Guidelines
      • Extension / validation system
      • London Agreement
      • National law relating to the EPC
      • Unitary patent system
      • National measures relating to the Unitary Patent
    • Court practices
      • Overview
      • European Patent Judges' Symposium
    • User consultations
      • Overview
      • Ongoing consultations
      • Completed consultations
    • Substantive patent law harmonisation
      • Overview
      • The Tegernsee process
      • Group B+
    • Convergence of practice
    • Options for professional representatives
    Image
    Law and practice scales 720x237

    Keep up with key aspects of selected BoA decisions with our monthly "Abstracts of decisions”

  • News & events

    News & events

    Our latest news, podcasts and events, including the European Inventor Award.

    Go to overview 

     

    • Overview
    • News
    • Events
    • European Inventor Award
      • Overview
      • The meaning of tomorrow
      • About the award
      • Categories and prizes
      • Meet the finalists
      • Nominations
      • European Inventor Network
      • The 2024 event
    • Young Inventor Prize
      • Overview
      • About the prize
      • Nominations
      • The jury
      • The world, reimagined
    • Press centre
      • Overview
      • Patent Index and statistics
      • Search in press centre
      • Background information
      • Copyright
      • Press contacts
      • Call back form
      • Email alert service
    • Innovation and patenting in focus
      • Overview
      • Water-related technologies
      • CodeFest
      • Green tech in focus
      • Research institutes
      • Women inventors
      • Lifestyle
      • Space and satellites
      • The future of medicine
      • Materials science
      • Mobile communications
      • Biotechnology
      • Patent classification
      • Digital technologies
      • The future of manufacturing
      • Books by EPO experts
    • "Talk innovation" podcast

    Podcast

    From ideas to inventions: tune into our podcast for the latest in tech and IP

  • Learning

    Learning

    The European Patent Academy – the point of access to your learning

    Go to overview 

    • Overview
    • Learning activities and paths
      • Overview
      • Learning activities
      • Learning paths
    • EQE and EPAC
      • Overview
      • EQE - European qualifying examination
      • EPAC - European patent administration certification
      • CSP – Candidate Support Programme
    • Learning resources by area of interest
      • Overview
      • Patent granting
      • Technology transfer and dissemination
      • Patent enforcement and litigation
    • Learning resources by profile
      • Overview
      • Business and IP managers
      • EQE and EPAC Candidates
      • Judges, lawyers and prosecutors
      • National offices and IP authorities
      • Patent attorneys and paralegals
      • Universities, research centres and technology transfer centres (TTOs)
    Image
    Patent Academy catalogue

    Have a look at the extensive range of learning opportunities in the European Patent Academy training catalogue

  • About us

    About us

    Find out more about our work, values, history and vision

    Go to overview 

    • Overview
    • The EPO at a glance
    • 50 years of the EPC
      • Overview
      • Official celebrations
      • Member states’ video statements
      • 50 Leading Tech Voices
      • Athens Marathon
      • Kids’ collaborative art competition
    • Legal foundations and member states
      • Overview
      • Legal foundations
      • Member states of the European Patent Organisation
      • Extension states
      • Validation states
    • Administrative Council and subsidiary bodies
      • Overview
      • Communiqués
      • Calendar
      • Documents and publications
      • Administrative Council
    • Principles & strategy
      • Overview
      • Our mission, vision, values and corporate policy
      • Strategic Plan 2028
      • Towards a New Normal
    • Leadership & management
      • Overview
      • President António Campinos
      • Management Advisory Committee
    • Sustainability at the EPO
      • Overview
      • Environmental
      • Social
      • Governance and Financial sustainability
    • Services & activities
      • Overview
      • Our services & structure
      • Quality
      • Consulting our users
      • European and international co-operation
      • European Patent Academy
      • Chief Economist
      • Ombuds Office
      • Reporting wrongdoing
    • Observatory on Patents and Technology
      • Overview
      • Innovation actors
      • Policy and funding
      • Tools
      • About the Observatory
    • Procurement
      • Overview
      • Procurement forecast
      • Doing business with the EPO
      • Procurement procedures
      • Sustainable Procurement Policy
      • About eTendering and electronic signatures
      • Procurement portal
      • Invoicing
      • General conditions
      • Archived tenders
    • Transparency portal
      • Overview
      • General
      • Human
      • Environmental
      • Organisational
      • Social and relational
      • Economic
      • Governance
    • Statistics and trends
      • Overview
      • Statistics & Trends Centre
      • Patent Index 2024
      • EPO Data Hub
      • Clarification on data sources
    • History
      • Overview
      • 1970s
      • 1980s
      • 1990s
      • 2000s
      • 2010s
      • 2020s
    • Art collection
      • Overview
      • The collection
      • Let's talk about art
      • Artists
      • Media library
      • What's on
      • Publications
      • Contact
      • Culture Space A&T 5-10
      • "Long Night"
    Image
    Patent Index 2024 keyvisual showing brightly lit up data chip, tinted in purple, bright blue

    Track the latest tech trends with our Patent Index

 
Website
cancel
en de fr
  • Language selection
  • English
  • Deutsch
  • Français
Main navigation
  • Homepage
    • Go back
    • New to patents
  • New to patents
    • Go back
    • Your business and patents
    • Why do we have patents?
    • What's your big idea?
    • Are you ready?
    • What to expect
    • How to apply for a patent
    • Is it patentable?
    • Are you first?
    • Patent quiz
    • Unitary patent video
  • Searching for patents
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • Technical information
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Espacenet - patent search
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • National patent office databases
        • Global Patent Index (GPI)
        • Release notes
      • European Publication Server
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Release notes
        • Cross-reference index for Euro-PCT applications
        • EP authority file
        • Help
      • EP full-text search
    • Legal information
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • European Patent Register
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Release notes archive
        • Register documentation
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Deep link data coverage
          • Federated Register
          • Register events
      • European Patent Bulletin
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Download Bulletin
        • EP Bulletin search
        • Help
      • European Case Law Identifier sitemap
      • Third-party observations
    • Business information
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • PATSTAT
      • IPscore
        • Go back
        • Release notes
      • Technology insight reports
    • Data
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Technology Intelligence Platform
      • Linked open EP data
      • Bulk data sets
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Manuals
        • Sequence listings
        • National full-text data
        • European Patent Register data
        • EPO worldwide bibliographic data (DOCDB)
        • EP full-text data
        • EPO worldwide legal event data (INPADOC)
        • EP bibliographic data (EBD)
        • Boards of Appeal decisions
      • Web services
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Open Patent Services (OPS)
        • European Publication Server web service
      • Coverage, codes and statistics
        • Go back
        • Weekly updates
        • Updated regularly
    • Technology platforms
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Plastics in transition
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Plastics waste recovery
        • Plastics waste recycling
        • Alternative plastics
      • Innovation in water technologies
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Clean water
        • Protection from water
      • Space innovation
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Cosmonautics
        • Space observation
      • Technologies combatting cancer
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Prevention and early detection
        • Diagnostics
        • Therapies
        • Wellbeing and aftercare
      • Firefighting technologies
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Detection and prevention of fires
        • Fire extinguishing
        • Protective equipment
        • Post-fire restoration
      • Clean energy technologies
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Renewable energy
        • Carbon-intensive industries
        • Energy storage and other enabling technologies
      • Fighting coronavirus
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Vaccines and therapeutics
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Vaccines
          • Overview of candidate therapies for COVID-19
          • Candidate antiviral and symptomatic therapeutics
          • Nucleic acids and antibodies to fight coronavirus
        • Diagnostics and analytics
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Protein and nucleic acid assays
          • Analytical protocols
        • Informatics
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Bioinformatics
          • Healthcare informatics
        • Technologies for the new normal
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Devices, materials and equipment
          • Procedures, actions and activities
          • Digital technologies
        • Inventors against coronavirus
    • Helpful resources
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • First time here?
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Basic definitions
        • Patent classification
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC)
        • Patent families
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • DOCDB simple patent family
          • INPADOC extended patent family
        • Legal event data
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • INPADOC classification scheme
      • Asian patent information
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • China (CN)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Facts and figures
          • Grant procedure
          • Numbering system
          • Useful terms
          • Searching in databases
        • Chinese Taipei (TW)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Grant procedure
          • Numbering system
          • Useful terms
          • Searching in databases
        • India (IN)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Facts and figures
          • Grant procedure
          • Numbering system
        • Japan (JP)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Facts and figures
          • Grant procedure
          • Numbering system
          • Useful terms
          • Searching in databases
        • Korea (KR)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Facts and figures
          • Grant procedure
          • Numbering system
          • Useful terms
          • Searching in databases
        • Russian Federation (RU)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Facts and figures
          • Numbering system
          • Searching in databases
        • Useful links
      • Patent information centres (PATLIB)
      • Patent Translate
      • Patent Knowledge News
      • Business and statistics
      • Unitary Patent information in patent knowledge
  • Applying for a patent
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • European route
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • European Patent Guide
      • Oppositions
      • Oral proceedings
        • Go back
        • Oral proceedings calendar
          • Go back
          • Calendar
          • Public access to appeal proceedings
          • Public access to opposition proceedings
          • Technical guidelines
      • Appeals
      • Unitary Patent & Unified Patent Court
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Unitary Patent
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Legal framework
          • Main features
          • Applying for a Unitary Patent
          • Cost of a Unitary Patent
          • Translation and compensation
          • Start date
          • Introductory brochures
        • Unified Patent Court
      • National validation
      • Extension/validation request
    • International route
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Euro-PCT Guide
      • Entry into the European phase
      • Decisions and notices
      • PCT provisions and resources
      • Extension/validation request
      • Reinforced partnership programme
      • Accelerating your PCT application
      • Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)
        • Go back
        • Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) programme outline
      • Training and events
    • National route
    • MyEPO services
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Understand our services
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Exchange data with us using an API
          • Go back
          • Release notes
      • Get access
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Release notes
      • File with us
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • What if our online filing services are down?
        • Release notes
      • Interact with us on your files
        • Go back
        • Release notes
      • Online Filing & fee payment outages
    • Fees
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • European fees (EPC)
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Decisions and notices
      • International fees (PCT)
        • Go back
        • Reduction in fees
        • Fees for international applications
        • Decisions and notices
        • Overview
      • Unitary Patent fees (UP)
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Decisions and notices
      • Fee payment and refunds
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Payment methods
        • Getting started
        • FAQs and other documentation
        • Technical information for batch payments
        • Decisions and notices
        • Release notes
      • Warning
    • Forms
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Request for examination
    • Find a professional representative
  • Law & practice
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • Legal texts
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • European Patent Convention
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Archive
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Documentation on the EPC revision 2000
            • Go back
            • Overview
            • Diplomatic Conference for the revision of the EPC
            • Travaux préparatoires
            • New text
            • Transitional provisions
            • Implementing regulations to the EPC 2000
            • Rules relating to Fees
            • Ratifications and accessions
          • Travaux Préparatoires EPC 1973
      • Official Journal
      • Guidelines
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • EPC Guidelines
        • PCT-EPO Guidelines
        • Unitary Patent Guidelines
        • Guidelines revision cycle
        • Consultation results
        • Summary of user responses
        • Archive
      • Extension / validation system
      • London Agreement
      • National law relating to the EPC
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Archive
      • Unitary Patent system
        • Go back
        • Travaux préparatoires to UP and UPC
      • National measures relating to the Unitary Patent 
    • Court practices
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • European Patent Judges' Symposium
    • User consultations
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Ongoing consultations
      • Completed consultations
    • Substantive patent law harmonisation
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • The Tegernsee process
      • Group B+
    • Convergence of practice
    • Options for professional representatives
  • News & events
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • News
    • Events
    • European Inventor Award
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • The meaning of tomorrow
      • About the award
      • Categories and prizes
      • Meet the inventors
      • Nominations
      • European Inventor Network
        • Go back
        • 2024 activities
        • 2025 activities
        • Rules and criteria
        • FAQ
      • The 2024 event
    • Young Inventors Prize
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • About the prize
      • Nominations
      • The jury
      • The world, reimagined
      • The 2025 event
    • Press centre
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Patent Index and statistics
      • Search in press centre
      • Background information
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • European Patent Office
        • Q&A on patents related to coronavirus
        • Q&A on plant patents
      • Copyright
      • Press contacts
      • Call back form
      • Email alert service
    • In focus
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Water-related technologies
      • CodeFest
        • Go back
        • CodeFest Spring 2025 on classifying patent data for sustainable development
        • Overview
        • CodeFest 2024 on generative AI
        • CodeFest 2023 on Green Plastics
      • Green tech in focus
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • About green tech
        • Renewable energies
        • Energy transition technologies
        • Building a greener future
      • Research institutes
      • Women inventors
      • Lifestyle
      • Space and satellites
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Patents and space technologies
      • Healthcare
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Medical technologies and cancer
        • Personalised medicine
      • Materials science
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Nanotechnology
      • Mobile communications
      • Biotechnology
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Red, white or green
        • The role of the EPO
        • What is patentable?
        • Biotech inventors
      • Classification
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Nanotechnology
        • Climate change mitigation technologies
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • External partners
          • Updates on Y02 and Y04S
      • Digital technologies
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • About ICT
        • Hardware and software
        • Artificial intelligence
        • Fourth Industrial Revolution
      • Additive manufacturing
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • About AM
        • AM innovation
      • Books by EPO experts
    • Podcast
  • Learning
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • Learning activities and paths
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Learning activities: types and formats
      • Learning paths
    • EQE and EPAC
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • EQE - European Qualifying Examination
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Compendium
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Paper F
          • Paper A
          • Paper B
          • Paper C
          • Paper D
          • Pre-examination
        • Candidates successful in the European qualifying examination
        • Archive
      • EPAC - European patent administration certification
      • CSP – Candidate Support Programme
    • Learning resources by area of interest
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Patent granting
      • Technology transfer and dissemination
      • Patent enforcement and litigation
    • Learning resources by profile
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Business and IP managers
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Innovation case studies
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • SME case studies
          • Technology transfer case studies
          • High-growth technology case studies
        • Inventor's handbook
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Introduction
          • Disclosure and confidentiality
          • Novelty and prior art
          • Competition and market potential
          • Assessing the risk ahead
          • Proving the invention
          • Protecting your idea
          • Building a team and seeking funding
          • Business planning
          • Finding and approaching companies
          • Dealing with companies
        • Best of search matters
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Tools and databases
          • EPO procedures and initiatives
          • Search strategies
          • Challenges and specific topics
        • Support for high-growth technology businesses
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Business decision-makers
          • IP professionals
          • Stakeholders of the Innovation Ecosystem
      • EQE and EPAC Candidates
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Paper F brain-teasers
        • Daily D questions
        • European qualifying examination - Guide for preparation
        • EPAC
      • Judges, lawyers and prosecutors
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Compulsory licensing in Europe
        • The jurisdiction of European courts in patent disputes
      • National offices and IP authorities
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Learning material for examiners of national officers
        • Learning material for formalities officers and paralegals
      • Patent attorneys and paralegals
      • Universities, research centres and TTOs
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Modular IP Education Framework (MIPEF)
        • Pan-European Seal Young Professionals Programme
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • For students
          • For universities
            • Go back
            • Overview
            • IP education resources
            • University memberships
          • Our young professionals
          • Professional development plan
        • Academic Research Programme
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Completed research projects
          • Current research projects
        • IP Teaching Kit
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Download modules
        • Intellectual property course design manual
        • PATLIB Knowledge Transfer to Africa
          • Go back
          • The PATLIB Knowledge Transfer to Africa initiative (KT2A)
          • KT2A core activities
          • Success story: Malawi University of Science and Technology and PATLIB Birmingham
  • About us
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • The EPO at a glance
    • 50 years of the EPC
      • Go back
      • Official celebrations
      • Overview
      • Member states’ video statements
        • Go back
        • Albania
        • Austria
        • Belgium
        • Bulgaria
        • Croatia
        • Cyprus
        • Czech Republic
        • Denmark
        • Estonia
        • Finland
        • France
        • Germany
        • Greece
        • Hungary
        • Iceland
        • Ireland
        • Italy
        • Latvia
        • Liechtenstein
        • Lithuania
        • Luxembourg
        • Malta
        • Monaco
        • Montenegro
        • Netherlands
        • North Macedonia
        • Norway
        • Poland
        • Portugal
        • Romania
        • San Marino
        • Serbia
        • Slovakia
        • Slovenia
        • Spain
        • Sweden
        • Switzerland
        • Türkiye
        • United Kingdom
      • 50 Leading Tech Voices
      • Athens Marathon
      • Kids’ collaborative art competition
    • Legal foundations and member states
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Legal foundations
      • Member states
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Member states by date of accession
      • Extension states
      • Validation states
    • Administrative Council and subsidiary bodies
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Communiqués
        • Go back
        • 2024
        • Overview
        • 2023
        • 2022
        • 2021
        • 2020
        • 2019
        • 2018
        • 2017
        • 2016
        • 2015
        • 2014
        • 2013
      • Calendar
      • Documents and publications
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Select Committee documents
      • Administrative Council
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Composition
        • Representatives
        • Rules of Procedure
        • Board of Auditors
        • Secretariat
        • Council bodies
    • Principles & strategy
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Mission, vision, values & corporate policy
      • Strategic Plan 2028
        • Go back
        • Driver 1: People
        • Driver 2: Technologies
        • Driver 3: High-quality, timely products and services
        • Driver 4: Partnerships
        • Driver 5: Financial sustainability
      • Towards a New Normal
      • Data protection & privacy notice
    • Leadership & management
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • About the President
      • Management Advisory Committee
    • Sustainability at the EPO
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Environmental
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Inspiring environmental inventions
      • Social
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Inspiring social inventions
      • Governance and Financial sustainability
    • Procurement
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Procurement forecast
      • Doing business with the EPO
      • Procurement procedures
      • Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) publications
      • Sustainable Procurement Policy
      • About eTendering
      • Invoicing
      • Procurement portal
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • e-Signing contracts
      • General conditions
      • Archived tenders
    • Services & activities
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Our services & structure
      • Quality
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Foundations
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • European Patent Convention
          • Guidelines for examination
          • Our staff
        • Enabling quality
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Prior art
          • Classification
          • Tools
          • Processes
        • Products & services
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Search
          • Examination
          • Opposition
          • Continuous improvement
        • Quality through networking
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • User engagement
          • Co-operation
          • User satisfaction survey
          • Stakeholder Quality Assurance Panels
        • Patent Quality Charter
        • Quality Action Plan
        • Quality dashboard
        • Statistics
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Search
          • Examination
          • Opposition
        • Integrated management at the EPO
      • Consulting our users
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Standing Advisory Committee before the EPO (SACEPO)
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Objectives
          • SACEPO and its working parties
          • Meetings
          • Single Access Portal – SACEPO Area
        • Surveys
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Detailed methodology
          • Search services
          • Examination services, final actions and publication
          • Opposition services
          • Formalities services
          • Customer services
          • Filing services
          • Key Account Management (KAM)
          • Website
          • Archive
      • Our user service charter
      • European and international co-operation
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Co-operation with member states
          • Go back
          • Overview
        • Bilateral co-operation with non-member states
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Validation system
          • Reinforced Partnership programme
        • Multilateral international co-operation with IP offices and organisations
        • Co-operation with international organisations outside the IP system
      • European Patent Academy
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Partners
      • Chief Economist
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Economic studies
      • Ombuds Office
      • Reporting wrongdoing
    • Observatory on Patents and Technology
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Innovation against cancer
      • Innovation actors
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Startups and SMEs
      • Policy and funding
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Financing innovation programme
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Our studies on the financing of innovation
          • EPO initiatives for patent applicants
          • Financial support for innovators in Europe
        • Patents and standards
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Publications
          • Patent standards explorer
      • Tools
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Deep Tech Finder
      • About the Observatory
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Work plan
    • Transparency portal
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • General
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Annual Review 2023
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Foreword
          • Executive summary
          • 50 years of the EPC
          • Strategic key performance indicators
          • Goal 1: Engaged and empowered
          • Goal 2: Digital transformation
          • Goal 3: Master quality
          • Goal 4: Partner for positive impact
          • Goal 5: Secure sustainability
        • Annual Review 2022
          • Go back
          • Overview
          • Foreword
          • Executive summary
          • Goal 1: Engaged and empowered
          • Goal 2: Digital transformation
          • Goal 3: Master quality
          • Goal 4: Partner for positive impact
          • Goal 5: Secure sustainability
      • Human
      • Environmental
      • Organisational
      • Social and relational
      • Economic
      • Governance
    • Statistics and trends
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Statistics & Trends Centre
      • Patent Index 2024
        • Go back
        • Insight into computer technology and AI
        • Insight into clean energy technologies
        • Statistics and indicators
          • Go back
          • European patent applications
            • Go back
            • Key trend
            • Origin
            • Top 10 technical fields
              • Go back
              • Computer technology
              • Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy
              • Digital communication
              • Medical technology
              • Transport
              • Measurement
              • Biotechnology
              • Pharmaceuticals
              • Other special machines
              • Organic fine chemistry
            • All technical fields
          • Applicants
            • Go back
            • Top 50
            • Categories
            • Women inventors
          • Granted patents
            • Go back
            • Key trend
            • Origin
            • Designations
      • Data to download
      • EPO Data Hub
      • Clarification on data sources
    • History
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • 1970s
      • 1980s
      • 1990s
      • 2000s
      • 2010s
      • 2020s
    • Art collection
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • The collection
      • Let's talk about art
      • Artists
      • Media library
      • What's on
      • Publications
      • Contact
      • Culture Space A&T 5-10
        • Go back
        • Catalyst lab & Deep vision
          • Go back
          • Irene Sauter (DE)
          • AVPD (DK)
          • Jan Robert Leegte (NL)
          • Jānis Dzirnieks (LV) #1
          • Jānis Dzirnieks (LV) #2
          • Péter Szalay (HU)
          • Thomas Feuerstein (AT)
          • Tom Burr (US)
          • Wolfgang Tillmans (DE)
          • TerraPort
          • Unfinished Sculpture - Captives #1
          • Deep vision – immersive exhibition
          • Previous exhibitions
        • The European Patent Journey
        • Sustaining life. Art in the climate emergency
        • Next generation statements
        • Open storage
        • Cosmic bar
      • "Long Night"
  • Boards of Appeal
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • Decisions of the Boards of Appeal
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Recent decisions
      • Selected decisions
    • Information from the Boards of Appeal
    • Procedure
    • Oral proceedings
    • About the Boards of Appeal
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • President of the Boards of Appeal
      • Enlarged Board of Appeal
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Pending referrals (Art. 112 EPC)
        • Decisions sorted by number (Art. 112 EPC)
        • Pending petitions for review (Art. 112a EPC)
        • Decisions on petitions for review (Art. 112a EPC)
      • Technical Boards of Appeal
      • Legal Board of Appeal
      • Disciplinary Board of Appeal
      • Presidium
        • Go back
        • Overview
    • Code of Conduct
    • Business distribution scheme
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Technical boards of appeal by IPC in 2025
      • Archive
    • Annual list of cases
    • Communications
    • Annual reports
      • Go back
      • Overview
    • Publications
      • Go back
      • Abstracts of decisions
    • Case Law of the Boards of Appeal
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Archive
  • Service & support
    • Go back
    • Overview
    • Website updates
    • Availability of online services
      • Go back
      • Overview
    • FAQ
      • Go back
      • Overview
    • Publications
    • Ordering
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Patent Knowledge Products and Services
      • Terms and conditions
        • Go back
        • Overview
        • Patent information products
        • Bulk data sets
        • Open Patent Services (OPS)
        • Fair use charter
    • Procedural communications
    • Useful links
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Patent offices of member states
      • Other patent offices
      • Directories of patent attorneys
      • Patent databases, registers and gazettes
      • Disclaimer
    • Contact us
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Filing options
      • Locations
    • Subscription centre
      • Go back
      • Overview
      • Subscribe
      • Change preferences
      • Unsubscribe
    • Official holidays
    • Glossary
    • RSS feeds
Board of Appeals
Decisions

Recent decisions

Overview
  • 2025 decisions
  • 2024 decisions
  • 2023 decisions
  1. Home
  2. T 0219/83 (Zeolites) 26-11-1985
Facebook X Linkedin Email

T 0219/83 (Zeolites) 26-11-1985

European Case Law Identifier
ECLI:EP:BA:1985:T021983.19851126
Date of decision
26 November 1985
Case number
T 0219/83
Petition for review of
-
Application number
79102315.3
IPC class
C01B
Language of proceedings
DE
Distribution
-

Download and more information:

Documentation of the appeal procedure can be found in the European Patent Register
Bibliographic information is available in:
EN
DE
FR
Versions
OJ
Application title
-
Applicant name
BASF
Opponent name
-
Board
3.3.01
Headnote

I. If the parties to opposition proceedings make contrary assertions which they cannot substantiate and the European Patent Office is unable to establish the facts of its own motion, the patent proprietor is given the benefit of the doubt.

2. After oral appeal proceedings in connection with an opposition, the parties must be informed and invited to state their observations concerning the maintenance of the European patent in the amended form within a period of one month in accordance with Rule 58(4) EPC only, if they cannot reasonably be expected to do so definitively during the oral proceedings.

Relevant legal provisions
European Patent Convention Art 112 1973
European Patent Convention Art 114 1973
European Patent Convention R 58(4) 1973
European Patent Convention R 66(1) 1973
Keywords

Onus of proof in opposition proceedings

Communication under Rule 58(4) in appeal proceedings

Referral to the Enlarged Board of Appeal

Catchword
-
Cited decisions
-
Citing decisions
G 0001/88
G 0002/12
G 0002/13
J 0008/98
T 0011/87
T 0135/87
T 0201/87
T 0264/87
T 0303/87
T 0365/87
T 0414/87
T 0042/88
T 0085/88
T 0205/88
T 0237/88
T 0290/88
T 0412/88
T 0427/88
T 0483/88
T 0596/88
T 0601/88
T 0630/88
T 0173/89
T 0291/89
T 0561/89
T 0594/89
T 0605/89
T 0696/89
T 0708/89
T 0766/89
T 0037/90
T 0063/90
T 0082/90
T 0098/90
T 0116/90
T 0228/90
T 0268/90
T 0298/90
T 0306/90
T 0565/90
T 0566/90
T 0626/90
T 0658/90
T 0768/90
T 0895/90
T 0051/91
T 0214/91
T 0332/91
T 0334/91
T 0393/91
T 0442/91
T 0456/91
T 0566/91
T 0601/91
T 0656/91
T 0716/91
T 0904/91
T 0951/91
T 0968/91
T 0086/92
T 0087/92
T 0250/92
T 0273/92
T 0302/92
T 0330/92
T 0423/92
T 0446/92
T 0514/92
T 0567/92
T 0570/92
T 0573/92
T 0636/92
T 0712/92
T 0717/92
T 0939/92
T 0965/92
T 1035/92
T 1095/92
T 1105/92
T 0036/93
T 0173/93
T 0207/93
T 0321/93
T 0326/93
T 0382/93
T 0505/93
T 0508/93
T 0795/93
T 0989/93
T 1070/93
T 0034/94
T 0077/94
T 0400/94
T 0692/94
T 0732/94
T 0933/94
T 0059/95
T 0062/95
T 0073/95
T 0076/95
T 0126/95
T 0322/95
T 0366/95
T 0450/95
T 0485/95
T 0606/95
T 0658/95
T 0726/95
T 0960/95
T 0036/96
T 0062/96
T 0223/96
T 0463/96
T 0476/96
T 0855/96
T 0921/96
T 0138/97
T 0191/97
T 0286/97
T 0465/97
T 0753/97
T 0912/97
T 1009/97
T 0164/98
T 0166/98
T 0238/98
T 0556/98
T 0699/98
T 0717/98
T 0718/98
T 0840/98
T 0960/98
T 1153/98
T 0330/99
T 0366/99
T 0506/99
T 0762/99
T 0817/99
T 0997/99
T 0020/00
T 0184/00
T 0197/00
T 0210/00
T 0444/00
T 0842/00
T 1167/00
T 0368/01
T 0445/01
T 0583/01
T 0608/01
T 0933/01
T 0986/01
T 1056/01
T 0034/02
T 0240/02
T 0369/02
T 0373/02
T 0622/02
T 0533/03
T 0802/03
T 0980/03
T 0042/04
T 0424/04
T 0442/04
T 0762/04
T 0083/05
T 0099/05
T 0808/05
T 1121/05
T 0046/06
T 0142/06
T 1087/06
T 1128/07
T 0976/08
T 1407/08
T 0147/09
T 0546/09
T 1113/10
T 1572/11
T 1036/18
T 2037/18
T 3217/19
T 0203/20
T 1285/21
T 2095/21
T 1199/22

I. European patent No. 7081 containing ten claims was granted on 11 November 1981 on the basis of European patent application No. 79 102 315.3 filed on 9 July 1979 claiming priority of the earlier application of 13 July 1978 (DE-2 830 787). Claims 1, 4, 5 and 6 read as follows:

"1. A process for the manufacture of a nitrogen-containing crystalline metal silicate having a zeolite structure from silicon dioxide and metal oxides and/or metal hydroxides, characterized in that the crystallization is carried out in the absence of an alkali metal, in an aqueous solution of hexamethylenediamine.

4. An aluminum silicate zeolite manufactured as claimed in claims 1 to 3.

5. A borosilicate zeolite manufactured as claimed in claims 1 to 3.

6. A metal silicate zeolite manufactured by calcining the amine- containing form of a zeolite as claimed in claim 4 or 5."

II. The opponents filed opposition to the grant of the European patent on 11 August 1982, requesting that the patent be revoked owing to lack of novelty. The grounds referred among other things to new citations.

III. The Opposition Division rejected the opposition on 13 October 1983, arguing essentially that the subject-matter of Claim 1 differed in two important respects from the relevant state of the art, i.e. DE-A-2 442 240 (1) and US-A-4 016 245 (6), and was therefore new. Nor did the state of the art suggest any obvious reason for using hexamethylenediamine in the preparation of zeolites. It was surprising that an alkali-free zeolite could be prepared direct by the process according to the contested patent. The other citations had been published in the priority period and, since the claim to priority was valid, had to be disregarded; priority was not forfeited merely because the results of the analyses in the patent specification examples and in the priority documents were not identical. The application on which priority was based did not need to be identical in its wording with the subsequent application. The patent was maintained as amended with Claim 1 as follows still valid:

"1. A process for the manufacture of a nitrogen-containing crystalline silicate of trivalent metals having a zeolite structure from silicon dioxide and metal oxides and/or metal hydroxides, characterized in that the crystallization is carried out in the absence of an alkali metal, in an aqueous solution of hexamethylenediamine."

IV. The opponents filed an appeal against this decision on 12 December 1983, submitting grounds on 12 February 1984. Following a communication from the Board dated 11 February 1985 questioning the substantive allowability of Claims 4 to 6 and of Claims 7 to 10 (use claims), oral proceedings were held on 26 November 1985.

V. The appellants' submission may be summarised approximately as follows: (a) A patent could not be valid if the essence of what was claimed conflicted with the relevant part of the description in as much as the claim required the absence of alkali, whereas the examples demonstrated the presence of alkali. This was borne out by the rest of the description, where the use of chemicals with a low sodium content, i.e. containing sodium, was recommended for the preparation of zeolites and it was stated that traces of sodium accelerate crystallisation. (b) In particular, the patent proprietors had reduced by a whole power of ten the sodium values in the examples in the contested patent, i.e. the values on which priority was based, compared with those in the prior application. This was not a matter of correcting typing errors, but of making a significant correction to the technical content which was not supported by the disclosure in the prior application; a chemical application always included embodiments illustrating the subject-matter of the patent, which in this case were incorrect and could not be corrected subsequently. The contested patent could not therefore validly claim priority. (c) Clear and readily comprehensible terms used in the claim ruled out a different interpretation based on other definitions in the specification. Accordingly, the claimed subject-matter could not be reproduced and the patent did not disclose a teaching which could be implemented by the skilled person. (d) The loss of priority meant that DE-A-2 817 576 (2) and DE-A-2 817 577 (3), which expressly mentioned the use of hexamethylenediamine, prejudiced the novelty of the contested patent. Moreover the claimed process and the products did not involve an inventive step because they did not bring about a substantial improvement compared with the results according to (1). An extrapolation from the information given in the examples in (1) would have pointed to a further reduction in the alkali content below 0.01% by weight if the amine content were increased. (e) In view of the uncertainty about the actual alkali content in the zeolites in the examples, the advantages of the results set out in them were dubious and ought not to be taken into consideration. Although it was known that a reduction in the alkali content of zeolites by ion exchange and calcination resulted in an asymptotic approximation to an extreme value ("plateau"), it was denied that the products in the contested patent with a low alkali content could not also be obtained by conventional methods.

VI. The respondents disagree. The skilled person undoubtedly interpreted "absence" of alkali as meaning "essentially free" of such ions; after all, it was not technically feasible to exclude sodium entirely owing to its widespread presence as an impurity in the environment and therefore in the natural starting materials for the preparation of zeolites. This interpretation was also indicated by the description, in which "absence of" was defined in effect as "essentially free of" (p. 3, lines 11-12). This meant that the skilled person was simply expected to use chemicals containing as little alkali as possible (p. 3, lines 19-20). That interpretation had also been recognised by a court in the United States. Accordingly, the process was practicable and resulted in substantially improved products which could not be obtained by known methods.

VII. The appellants request that the contested decision be set aside and the European patent revoked. They request in the alternative that the following points of law be referred to the Enlarged Board of Appeal:

1. Is a claim postulating a specific technical requirement (in this case, absence of alkali) valid if the description gives contradictory technical instructions throughout (in this case, presence of alkali or sodium), in other words clearly does not support the claim?

2. Is a basic technical point which is essential to the claim (in the characterising portion of the main claim) still covered by the priority of the original application if this basic point has been substantially amended vis-à-vis the original application (in this case, by a power of ten)?

VIII. The respondents (patent proprietors) request that the appeal be dismissed and the patent maintained with Claims 1 to 5 as maintained by the Opposition Division subject to the first sentence of the description on page 3, paragraph 3, lines 27 to 28, being replaced by the following paragraph: "The zeolites manufactured according to the invention are suitable as catalysts for the conversion of hydrocarbons, e.g. in cracking and in isomerization and alkylation reactions, and for converting methanol and/or dimethylether into unsaturated hydrocarbons by splitting at a high temperature."

They request in the alternative that the patent be maintained with the further limitation that Claims 4 and 5 be deleted.

1. The appeal complies with Articles 106 to 108 and Rule 64 EPC and is therefore admissible.

2. The objection that the main claim is unclear is without substance; the proposal according to the patent that the process be carried out in the absence of alkali is addressed to the skilled person, who does not rely solely on the literal meaning of the text but is quite well aware that chemicals used for technical purposes are never entirely sodium-free. Accordingly, the teaching of Claim 1 considered objectively can only be taken to mean that in the preparation of zeolites it is necessary to exclude alkali as far as possible by keeping to a minimum the amount of alkali impurities in the starting materials used. The Board takes the view that any skilled person would interpret the technical teaching of the claims in this way, so there was no need to clarify the wording.

3. Any doubts that might nonetheless occur to the mind of a skilled person would be removed by the description. Here it is stated that "alkali-free" as used in relation to the invention means "essentially free from sodium ions" (cf. page 3, lines 11-12). It is expressly pointed out in this connection that the residual alkali content in the resulting zeolites is caused solely by impurities in the chemicals used as starting materials and that chemicals with a low Na content are generally preferred (cf. page 3, lines 12-21). The fact that Na traces can also accelerate zeolite crystallisation (cf. page 3, lines 17-18) does not conflict with this recommendation since the intention is as far as possible to allow only traces of Na. The Board considers that the teaching according to Claim 1 of the contested patent is not inconsistent with the description and that the interpretation which would naturally suggest itself to the skilled person is that the two readily complement each other. Consequently, the first point of law raised by the appellants is devoid of any basis. Under these circumstances, since the availability of such "alkali- free", i.e. largely alkali-free, chemicals is beyond doubt, the feasibility of the process is beyond doubt too (cf. the description, page 3, lines 14-24). The invention is therefore disclosed in a manner sufficiently clear and complete for it to be carried out by a person skilled in the art.

4. Nor is there any substance to the objection that the present patent does not qualify for the claimed right of priority. The appellants' view that correcting by a power of ten the sodium content of the zeolites prepared in accordance with some of the examples in the prior application must result in loss of priority disregards the fact that the priority for alkali-free zeolite preparation is based in the present case not on these examples but on the broader disclosure in Claim 1 and on page 6 of the prior application. However, even if the extent to which the zeolites are free of alkali were a decisive factor, the Board sees no reason for questioning the values corrected vis-à-vis the prior application; after all, the process inevitably producing the given result has remained unchanged. Moreover the opponents and appellants, with whom the onus of proof rests, have neither claimed nor shown convincingly that the corrected values are not in fact obtained. The examples called into question do not therefore go beyond the scope of the original disclosure, but have merely been corrected - and this cannot at present be refuted - in respect of a single value measured on the product of the process. This means that the patent in question enjoys the priority claimed in all those of its embodiments relevant in the present context. It should perhaps be noted in passing that, although the Na20 value has been corrected by a power of ten, the corrected values (0.002 or 0.0035%) are not substantially below the unchanged sodium content of 0.004% by weight from Example 1 in the European patent application, which is identical in content with that in the prior application.

5. Given this clear-cut situation it was not possible to accede to the appellants' request that the second point of law raised by them, concerning priority, be submitted to the Enlarged Board of Appeal.

6. Of the two citations published before the priority date of the contested patent, (1) is closest to the subject-matter of the patent. This document describes a process for preparing crystalline, nitrogen-containing zeolites in the presence of primary amines such as propylamine. The synthetic zeolites prepared in this way are already meant to have a reduced alkali content of not more than 0.2%. Although the operation is carried out in the presence of substantial quantities of sodium (up to one third in relation to the silicon dioxide used, see Examples 1, 13, 15 and 23), the best results with N-propylamine fluctuate between 0.01 and 0.07% of Na20 (occasionally with "less" than 0.01% in the case of isopropylamine and ethylamine, see the figures for Examples 8 and 12 in Tables I, page 16, and II, page 17). With higher amines the alkali content increases (Table II, Examples 13 to 26). It must be possible to use the products "direct as a catalyst without intermediate precalcination or cation exchange" (page 3, lines 17-19). However, the only relevant example of use merely concerns the use of a zeolite previously subjected to ion exchange with ammonium chloride and then calcined (page 17, last paragraph, and page 18, lines 1-4).

7. Given this state of the art, the technical problem consisted in providing a process for preparing zeolites with a yet lower alkali content in one stage, i.e. without complex ion exchange. To solve this problem it is proposed that crystallisation of the zeolite be carried out (essentially) without alkali in an aqueous solution of hexamethylenediamine. Without ion exchange, the subsequent products obtained by calcination have a sodium content of 0.002 to 0.004% by weight when aluminosilicate is added (Examples 5 and 1) and of 0.0035 to 0.008% by weight when borosilicate or arsenic silicate is added (Examples 7 and 9 respectively). These results suggest that the problem is indeed solved.

8. Neither of the two proposed features of the solution is disclosed in the relevant citations. The subject-matter of Claim 1 is thus new.

9. It therefore has to be established whether the proposed solution involves an inventive step.

9.1 It is significant that the state of the art describes the use of considerable quantities of Na20, for example in the form of sodium aluminate or sodium silicate, in order to dissolve the SiO2 and promote crystallisation. For example, citation (1) uses quantities of Na2O amounting to up to one third of the quantities of SiO2 in every example. Citation (6), too, adopts this method of preparation, which emulates the formation of zeolites under natural circumstances. The appellants do not dispute this characteristic, which is found throughout the state of the art. By contrast, the procedure according to the patent in question represents a departure from the known method of zeolite preparation as practised on a large scale and without any change in this respect for many decades. This involved a risk in so far as, at the least, it was uncertain whether and under what circumstances it was possible to dispense with sodium oxide acting as a solubiliser for the zeolite-forming oxides and at the same time as a crystallisation accelerator.

9.2 But even assuming that the skilled person intent on reducing the alkali content in the zeolites had thought of effecting this reduction in the starting materials themselves and had dismissed the grave misgiving about the dual role of the alkali, the state of the art would not have suggested the simultaneous use of hexamethylenediamine prescribed in the contested patent; no hint at this is contained in the state of the art. Although it was known that zeolites could be prepared in the presence of amines in a general form (albeit in the presence of substantial quantities of alkali), there could have been no predicting the advantages which indisputably occur when hexamethylenediamine is used and which the solution to the problem in question was meant to provide. Citation (1) shows that extension of the methylene chain impairs the results (cf. Examples 13-26 in conjunction with Table II, page 17). Citation (6) uses ethylenediamine, giving a content of over 0.02% by weight of sodium (equivalent to 0.01 mol% of Na2O relative to Al2O3 in accordance with Table 2A, column 11, as can be seen by comparing column 9, lines 18 and 22). The values with this diamine are thus much worse than with the corresponding monoamine in Example 12 of (1). Accordingly, the skilled person had no reason to expect better results than those in (1) by using diamines with a longer chain.

9.3 The subject-matter of Claim 1 and of the dependent Sub-claims 2 and 3 therefore involves an inventive step.

10. The direct products of the claimed process contain hexamethylenediamine incorporated in the intracrystalline pores (page 3, lines 41-42). Two specific variants, aluminosilicate and borosilicate zeolites, are expressly claimed (Claims 4 and 5). They are therefore new, together with the processes used to prepare them according to Claim 1. Defining them by product-by- process parameters is justified because the precise structure of these zeolites is unknown. Such claims, however, have to be interpreted in an absolute sense, i.e. independently of the process. If, as in the present case, their subject-matters as such are new, they still do not involve an inventive step merely because the process for their preparation does so (cf. "Claim Categories/IFF" T 150/82, OJ 7/1984, p. 309 and Decision T 248/85 of 21 January 1986 to be published); in order to be patentable, the claimed product as such must be a solution to a separate technical problem which is not obvious in the light of the state of the art.

11. The closest state of the art with regard to the zeolites in Claims 4 and 5 is again (1), which discloses crystalline, nitrogen-containing zeolites with a reduced alkali content which can be used as catalysts after calcination. The technical problem vis-à-vis this state of the art consists in providing primary products, further improved with regard to their alkali content, for such catalysts. This problem is solved according to the two substance claims by producing new precursors for calcined zeolites. These precursors differ from the products according to (1) not only in the type of incorporated amines but particularly in respect of their alkali content.

12. The respondents stated that zeolites known as catalysts or precursors thereof had not so far been available in this quality, i.e. with such a low alkali content (cf. the patent specification, page 2, lines 22-25). They further drew attention to their unsuccessful attempts to remove residual alkali from known zeolites with a higher alkali content by repeated ion exchange followed by calcination. Nor did either the general knowledge of the skilled person or the relevant literature point to any known method of obtaining such low alkali values as those in the contested patent. The appellants have conceded that the usual methods, i.e. ion exchange and calcination, result only asymptotically in a "plateau", i.e. an extreme sodium content value (cf. (1), page 7, lines 17-21). Although they nevertheless dispute the contention that there was no way of removing the residual alkali they have not been able to indicate a specific method suited to this purpose or even to suggest the bare outlines of such a method. The Board is unable on the strength of its own specialised knowledge to espouse the assertions of either the appellants or the respondents. It is more inclined to take the respondents' view, however, for if the state of the art had been capable of delivering zeolites with such a low alkali content as those obtained according to the teaching of the contested patent, this fact would certainly have been reflected in the technical literature or in technical knowledge in some other form capable of being substantiated. This not being the case, the Board believes that the teaching according to European patent No. 7 081 made it possible for the first time to prepare zeolites of the required quality. Regardless of that, however, it is not sufficient in opposition proceedings for the opponent to impugn a granted patent with an assertion which cannot be substantiated. It is true that under Article 114(1) EPC the European Patent Office, in proceedings before it, examines the facts of its own motion and is not restricted in this examination to the facts, evidence and arguments provided by the parties and the relief sought. But if the European Patent Office is unable to establish the facts of its own motion, it is the party whose argument rests on these alleged facts who loses thereby. This is the situation here. The two parties have made contrary assertions concerning the desired elimination of alkali. In such cases the ruling goes against the opponent as appellant if he is unable to substantiate an assertion which could disprove the existence of an inventive step. It was up to the opponents to name a method in the state of the art whereby it was possible prior to the filing date to prepare by other means zeolites free of alkali to the same degree as those in the patent in question. The opponents were unable to name any such method; nor is the Board aware of one. Accordingly, the opponents' assertion can only be treated as an unproven supposition which cannot counter the assumption that the granted European patent involves an inventive step.

13. The Board did not inform the parties in accordance with Rule 58(4) EPC. Under that provision, which by virtue of Rule 66(1) EPC is applicable to appeal proceedings mutatis mutandis, the Board of Appeal must, before deciding on the maintenance of the European patent in the amended form, inform the parties that it intends to maintain the patent as amended and invite them to state their observations within a period of one month if they disapprove of the text in which it is intended to maintain the patent. The Board maintained the patent with Claims 1 to 5 and with two minor amendments in the description, whereas the Opposition Division had maintained it with Claims 1 to 10. If the wording of Rule 58(4) EPC were taken literally, it would no doubt have been necessary to follow the procedure in accordance with Rule 58 EPC since the extent of the patent had been altered by the deletion of Claims 6 to 10 (one substance claim and all the use claims) and by an amendment - albeit minor - to the description.

14. However, the Board takes the view that it is as much the intent and purpose as the literal wording of Rule 58(4) that have to be observed in opposition appeal proceedings. The Board in fact doubts whether Rule 58(4) EPC always applies when oral proceedings have taken place before it. In the Board's view, Rule 58(4) EPC is intended to ensure that due account is taken in opposition proceedings of the principles of due process set out in Article 113 EPC. The Board recognises the general justification of Rule 58(4) EPC where no oral proceedings have taken place and it is intended that the patent be maintained in the amended form by the written procedure. Generally speaking, the Board considers it necessary in the written procedure to inform the parties in writing of the intention to maintain the patent in the amended form. By contrast, this obvious need to inform the parties under Rule 58(4) EPC does not apply to the same extent in a case involving oral proceedings since the subject-matter is discussed in detail with the parties anyway. Oral proceedings therefore represent the best way of ensuring that decisions are based on grounds or evidence on which the parties concerned have had an opportunity to present their comments. If oral proceedings are not held, other guarantees must be provided to ensure that this requirement is adequately catered for. In the written procedure, the guarantee consists in the fact that the parties are always informed in accordance with Rule 58(4) EPC. As regards the written procedure, therefore, the need for the parties to be informed in accordance with Rule 58(4) EPC is incontrovertible and mandatory.

15. Oral proceedings, on the other hand, generally afford the parties an adequate opportunity to comment on a proposal to maintain the European patent in the amended form. Only when the parties cannot reasonably be expected to state their definitive observations on maintenance in the amended form during oral proceedings - for example, because the amendments are so fundamental or numerous that their significance cannot immediately be appreciated - would it be necessary even after oral proceedings to inform the parties in accordance with Rule 58(4) EPC in order to ensure that the principles governing the basis of decisions are properly observed. If, on the other hand, the amendments are such that the party or his professional representative can appreciate their significance - if necessary, after the oral proceedings have been interrupted so that the parties can confer among themselves - there will be no need to inform the parties in accordance with Rule 58(4) EPC. The same applies if the intended amendment, although very far-reaching or extensive, has been made known to the parties by the Board under an interim order prior to the oral proceedings. The Board considers it unnecessary in all these cases to inform the parties in accordance with Rule 58(4) EPC because due regard has already been had to the intent and purpose of this provision.

16. The Board therefore believes the parties should be informed in accordance with Rule 58(4) EPC if they would not otherwise have an adequate opportunity to present their comments. Accordingly, it has to be considered in each individual case whether or not the parties ought to be informed in accordance with Rule 58(4) EPC. Great care needs to be exercised in considering this question as it is a matter of due process and hence fundamental to equitable proceedings. Under the European Patent Convention the Board is particularly well equipped for this purpose because, unlike the Opposition Division which decides on the case at first instance, at least one legally qualified member always sits on the bench of the Board of Appeal (cf. Articles 19(2) and 21(4) EPC). This composition guarantees as far as possible that the parties have an adequate opportunity to present their comments in opposition appeal proceedings. The difference in the memberships of Opposition Division and Board of Appeal thus justifies applying Rule 58(4) EPC in different ways. Before the European patent is maintained in the amended form in proceedings before the Opposition Division, therefore, the parties should always be informed in accordance with Rule 58(4) EPC even if oral proceedings have been held; whereas in opposition appeal proceedings the Board decides from case to case whether or not this is necessary. When in doubt, the Board too will always favour informing the parties in accordance with Rule 58(4) to ensure that they have an adequate opportunity to present their comments. This differing application of Rule 58(4) EPC before Opposition Division and Board of Appeal is also in line with the text of the Convention: Rule 66(1) EPC stipulates not that Rule 58(4) EPC has to be applied in appeal proceedings, but that the provisions relating to proceedings before the department of first instance are applicable to appeal proceedings "mutatis mutandis". This means that, when the same procedural provisions are applied, the above-mentioned differences in the memberships of the deciding bodies are to be taken into account.

17. Applying the principles elucidated above to the present case, the Board was able to dispense with informing the parties in accordance with Rule 58(4) EPC. The extent of the patent was amended only in so far as Claims 6 to 10 were deleted completely, the essential content of the Use Claims 7 to 10 being incorporated almost verbatim into the description. The effects of this amendment on the scope of the protection afforded by the patent are very easy to perceive, so that a discussion during oral proceedings was quite sufficient to ensure that the parties had adequate opportunity to present their comments. The parties gave no indication during the oral proceedings that they needed more time - for instance, an interruption of the oral proceedings or even a period in which to present their comments - in order to examine this amendment. Nor did the Board see any such need. The Board's decision not to inform the parties under Rule 58(4) EPC was therefore correct.

18. Under Article 112(1) EPC the Board of Appeal refers any question to the Enlarged Board of Appeal of its own motion or at the request of a party if it considers the Enlarged Board's decision necessary. As already explained in some detail under 3. to 5. above, the Board sees no need for a decision by the Enlarged Board of Appeal with regard to the questions formulated by the appellants. Quite apart from that the general prerequisities for a referral to the Enlarged Board of Appeal are not fulfilled, given that questions may only be referred to the Enlarged Board in order to ensure uniform application of the law or if an important point of law arises. Neither of these requirements is met in the present case since the law is applied within the framework of existing case law concerning the understanding of the average skilled person. The Board is not departing from the case law laid down by another Board nor is it deciding an important point of law whose resolution would be of general interest for the future. The Board is merely applying proven principles of law to an individual case. There is therefore no question of referring the matter to the Enlarged Board of Appeal.

Order

ORDER

For these reasons, it is decided that:

1. The contested decision is set aside.

2. The patent is maintained with Claims 1 to 5, as requested, and with the following amendments: (a) In the description, the first sentence of paragraph 3 on page 3, lines 27 - 28, is to be deleted and replaced by the paragraph indicated under VIII. (b) On page 3, paragraph 4, line 43, "(calcination)" is to be added after "burning".

3. The request that the points of law submitted by the appellants be referred to the Enlarged Board of Appeal is refused.

Footer - Service & support
  • Service & support
    • Website updates
    • Availability of online services
    • FAQ
    • Publications
    • Procedural communications
    • Contact us
    • Subscription centre
    • Official holidays
    • Glossary
Footer - More links
  • Jobs & careers
  • Press centre
  • Single Access Portal
  • Procurement
  • Boards of Appeal
Facebook
European Patent Office
EPO Jobs
Instagram
EuropeanPatentOffice
Linkedin
European Patent Office
EPO Jobs
EPO Procurement
X (formerly Twitter)
EPOorg
EPOjobs
Youtube
TheEPO
Footer
  • Legal notice
  • Terms of use
  • Data protection and privacy
  • Accessibility