5.2.2 Ex parte proceedings

In ex parte cases it is established case law that proceedings before the boards of appeal are primarily concerned with examining the contested decision (G 10/93, OJ 1995, 172). Since the judicial examination in ex parte proceedings concerns the stage prior to grant and lacks a contentious nature, the boards are restricted, in their review of the decision under appeal, neither to an examination of the grounds for the contested decision nor to the facts and evidence on which the decision is based (G 10/93). In T 980/08 the board stated that this absence of restriction does not amount to a positive obligation for the boards to consider any request filed in appeal especially when the requests bring about a new case. The appeal proceedings are intended to review the correctness of the decision of the first instance rather than to continue examination by other means (see also T 65/11 of 21 November 2014 date: 2014-11-21, T 523/13, T 675/13; T 980/08 is also cited in the context of the RPBA 2020, see e.g. T 340/17, T 2179/19).