2.9.4 Competence of the department of first instance

In T 473/91 date: 1992-04-09 (OJ 1993, 630) the board made it clear that the admissibility question under Art. 109 EPC 1973 fell under the jurisdiction of the department of first instance only when this question could be decided immediately on the basis of the appeal submissions themselves. Consequently, the appellate instance had exclusive jurisdiction over a request for restitutio in integrum into a time limit relating to the appeal itself.