BOARDS OF APPEAL
Information from the Enlarged Board of Appeal
Communication from the Enlarged Board of Appeal concerning case G 1/11
In accordance with Article 112(1)(a) EPC, Legal Board of Appeal 3.1.01 referred the following point of law to the Enlarged Board of Appeal by its decision of 1 August 2011 in case J 21/09:
"Is a technical board of appeal or the Legal Board of Appeal competent to hear an appeal against an EPO examining division's decision - taken separately from its decision granting a patent or refusing the application - not to refund search fees under Rule 64(2) EPC?"
The text of the referral in German is available on the website of the European Patent Office under www.epo.org/law-practice/case-law-appeals/eba/pending.html.
The Enlarged Board of Appeal considering the referral will be composed as follows: P. Messerli (CH) (Chairman), R. Menapace (AT), A. Clelland (GB), U. Oswald (DE), C. Rennie-Smith (GB), M.-B. Tardo-Dino (FR), M. Vogel (DE).
Third parties are hereby given the opportunity to file written statements in accordance with Article 10 of the Rules of Procedure of the Enlarged Board of Appeal (OJ EPO 2007, 303 ff) in one of the official languages of the EPO (English, French or German).
To ensure that any such statements can be given due consideration they should be filed by the end of January 2012 with the Registry of the Enlarged Board of Appeal, quoting case number G 1/11.
Each statement should also be accompanied by a list of cited documents and copies of any such documents not previously filed.