5.5.1 Due care on the part of the applicant

In J 3/93 the Legal Board ruled that the duty to exercise all due care stipulated by Art. 122 EPC 1973 applied first and foremost to the applicant and then, by virtue of the delegation implicit in his appointment, to the professional representative authorised to represent the applicant before the EPO. The fact that the representative had acted correctly did not exempt his client from suffering the consequences of his own mistakes, or even negligence (see also J 16/93, J 17/03, J 1/07, J 1/13).