Selected decisions
The list of “Selected decisions” alerts users to all newly published decisions for which a headnote or a catchword has been provided by the board. Usually, a board will add a headnote or catchword if it wishes to provide a brief summary of a particular point of law or to draw attention to an important part of the reasons for the decision. The list contains all decisions with a headnote or catchword published in the last three years and can be viewed by year by selecting the year from the menu on the left.
The list below contains all decisions with a headnote or catchword that have been released for publication in the last six months (newest first).
March 2025
1. The rationale of the Enlarged Board of Appeal's decisions
G 2/88 and G 6/88 is limited to claims directed to (new) non-medical uses of a known compound for a particular purpose, rather than to processes for production within the meaning of Article 64(2) EPC. In order to be a limiting technical feature of the claim, the (new) purpose must relate to the use rather than to a property of the product (see Reasons 15).
2. Claims which when correctly construed are directed to processes resulting in products referred to in Article 64(2) EPC are not subject to the special treatment established under G 2/88 and G 6/88, even if they contain the word "use" (see Reasons 9).
3. Where an invention relates to a new technical effect of a physical entity that can only occur as part of a process for the production or manufacture of a product, such that it is inextricably linked to and cannot occur in isolation from the production process, a claim directed to the "use" of the physical entity to achieve that effect must be regarded as directed to the production process per se (see Reasons 23).
4. For the criteria to be used in deciding whether auxiliary requests were admissibly raised in opposition proceedings, in the sense of Article 12(4) RPBA, see Reasons 38 to 52.
Novelty - (no)
Category of granted claims
Second non-medical indication (no)
Auxiliary requests admissibly raised in opposition proceedings (no)
Referral to the Enlarged Board of Appeal - (no)
1. Die Fachperson muss im Rahmen des Aufgabe-Lösungs-Ansatzes gewöhnlich zunächst die Lehre des nächstliegenden Standes der Technik ausarbeiten. Kommt die Fachperson alleine durch das Ausarbeiten dieser Lehre schon zur beanspruchten Lösung, kann als objektive technische Aufgabe die Ausarbeitung der Lehre des nächstliegenden Standes der Technik angesehen werden (Gründe 3.3.3).
2. Der Geschäftsmann kennt in dem die Erfindung betreffenden Geschäftsgebiet einfache technische Konzepte, mit denen er sich regelmäßig auseinandersetzen muss, insbesondere wenn diese Konzepte betriebswirtschaftliche Aspekte, z.B. Kosten, betreffen (Gründe 5.4.3).
Erfinderische Tätigkeit - (nein)
Erfinderische Tätigkeit - Aufgabe-Lösungs-Ansatz
Erfinderische Tätigkeit - Definition des technischen Problems
Erfinderische Tätigkeit - Fachmann
Erfinderische Tätigkeit - Neuformulierung der technischen Aufgabe
Erfinderische Tätigkeit - naheliegende Lösung
Novelty (yes)
Inventive step (no)
Late-filed auxiliary requests - admitted (auxiliary requests 1 to 3: no; auxiliary request 4: admissibly raised)
Remittal (yes)
Amendment to case - amendment within meaning of Art. 12(4) RPBA 2020 (yes)
Late-filed objection - admitted (no)
Novelty - multiple selection
Novelty - main request (no)
Novelty - auxiliary request (yes)
Remittal - special reasons for remittal (no)
Amendments - extension beyond the content of the application as filed (yes)
Inventive step - non-obvious solution
Amendment after summons - exceptional circumstances (no)
February 2025
Grounds for opposition - insufficiency of disclosure (no)
Grounds for opposition - added subject-matter (no)
Sufficiency of disclosure - enabling disclosure (yes)
Remittal - special reasons for remittal (yes)
Referral to the Enlarged Board of Appeal - (no)
Novelty - public prior use (yes)
Novelty - main request (no)
Inventive step - auxiliary request (no)
Standard of proof - required degree of conviction
Modification après notification au titre de l'article 15(1) RPCR - circonstances exceptionnelles (non)
Modification après notification au titre de l'article 15(1) RPCR - prise en compte (non)
Motifs d'opposition - exposé insuffisant (non)
Renvoi - motifs particuliers justifiant le renvoi (oui)