7.3.4 Case law concerning oral proceedings held after G 1/21 and prior to the end of pandemic measures at the Boards of Appeal
This section has been updated to reflect case law and legislative changes up to 31 December 2023. For the previous version of this section please refer to the "Case Law of the Boards of Appeal", 10th edition (PDF). |
Since late 2022, some decisions have stated that oral proceedings by videoconference are an equivalent alternative to oral proceedings in person. Examples of this case law are provided below.
In T 1158/20 the board established that holding oral proceedings by videoconference can meanwhile often be considered an equivalent alternative to oral proceedings in person, among others because since G 1/21 date: 2021-07-16 the boards and the parties had gained extensive experience with videoconferencing and using the tools involved. The technical requirements had been met on the boards' side but also on the side of the representatives to allow for stable videoconferences with high-quality picture and sound such that holding oral proceedings by videoconference was no longer as far from the gold standard as it had been when decision G 1/21 date: 2021-07-16 had been taken (see also T 758/20).