T 2227/15 × View decision
Transitional provisions - applicability of Article 13(1) RPBA 2020 to cases where the summons to oral proceedings were notified before the entry into force of the RPBA 2020 (see point 1 of the Reasons) Form of decision - abridged form in respect of one or more issues (see point 2 of the Reasons)
As set out in Art. 12(2) RPBA 2020, since the primary object of the appeal proceedings is to review the decision under appeal in a judicial manner, a party's appeal case shall be directed to the requests, facts, objections, arguments and evidence on which the decision under appeal was based. In the explanatory remarks to Art. 12(2) RPBA 2020 (Supplementary publication 2, OJ 2020) it is stated that this paragraph provides a general definition of the nature and scope of the appeal proceedings in accordance with the established case law. The boards of appeal constitute the first and final judicial instance in the procedures before the European Patent Office. In this capacity, they review appealed decisions on points of law and fact. In T 1604/16 the board referred to the explanatory remarks to Art. 12(2) RPBA 2020 that the boards have competence to review appealed decisions in full, including points of law and fact. This was in accordance with Art. 6 ECHR, which stipulates that there must be at least one judicial instance that can review a case in full, i.e. the law and the facts, given that the boards of appeal are the only judicial body to review decisions by the departments of first instance of the European Patent Office. The board was well aware that there is case law on a restriction of the boards' competence when reviewing discretionary decisions taken by the departments of first instance in certain circumstances (G 7/93, OJ 1994, 775, and case law based on this decision). However, it did not consider the evaluation of evidence to be a discretionary decision. See also chapter III.C.1. "Evaluation of evidence by the department of first instance".
1.2. Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal (RPBA)
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The RPBA too contain key provisions governing the appeal procedure. They were thoroughly revised in 2003, the revisions relating to the "core" of the appeal procedure, i.e. written and oral proceedings and various related aspects, such as late filing and costs (for details, see CA/133/02). In 2007 they were revised again, to reflect the EPC 2000 (OJ 2007, 536); the provisions on written and oral proceedings were largely left unchanged, but renumbered. Another substantial revision is planned for 2019.
It follows from the RPBA that appeal proceedings are to be conducted primarily in writing. Art. 12(2) RPBA 2007 requires the parties to proceedings to submit their complete cases at the outset, and Art. 13 RPBA 2007 leaves it to the board's discretion to admit any changes to their cases after that. The purpose of these provisions is to ensure fair proceedings, free of tactical behaviour, for all the parties and to enable the board to start work on a case on the basis of both parties' complete submissions (T 217/10, T 713/11, T 1098/11).
Under Art. 23 RPBA 2007, the RPBA are binding on the boards unless they lead to a situation which would be incompatible with the spirit and purpose of the EPC (on this, see T 2227/12).
See also in this chapter V.A.4.1.2 "Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal (RPBA)".