1. Forms of notification

In T 1596/14 appellant I (patent proprietor) objected to the fact that the decision of the opposition division was sent to them with a date of 9 July 2014 and resent only to appellant II (opponent) at the later date of 22 July 2014. The board noted in obiter dictum that there was no evidence or indication that the alleged unequal treatment of the parties induced by different dates of notification of the same decision had been detrimental to any party's interests, and in particular, not to appellant I's interests. There did not appear to be any consequences for the admissibility of the appeals or for the due course of the ensuing appeal proceedings. The board noted that there was no specific sanction or remedy foreseen in the EPC for this situation and it seemed to the board that it was difficult to assume that appellant I's suggestion to resend the decision with a new common notification date would be a remedy, since the parties in the case in hand were already aware of each other's arguments.