BOARDS OF APPEAL
Communication from the Enlarged Board of Appeal concerning case G 1/24
In accordance with Article 112(1)(a) EPC, Technical Board of Appeal 3.2.01 has referred the following points of law to the Enlarged Board of Appeal by interlocutory decision of 24 June 2024 in case T 439/22:
1. Is Article 69 (1), second sentence EPC and Article 1 of the Protocol on the Interpretation of Article 69 EPC to be applied on the interpretation of patent claims when assessing the patentability of an invention under Articles 52 to 57 EPC?
2. May the description and figures be consulted when interpreting the claims to assess patentability and, if so, may this be done generally or only if the person skilled in the art finds a claim to be unclear or ambiguous when read in isolation?
3. May a definition or similar information on a term used in the claims which is explicitly given in the description be disregarded when interpreting the claims to assess patentability and, if so, under what conditions?
The text of the referral in English is available on the EPO website under epo.org/en/boards-of-appeal/decisions/t220439eu1.
The Enlarged Board of Appeal considering the referral G 1/24 will be composed as follows: C. Josefsson (Chair), I. Beckedorf, D. Rogers, A. Dimitrova, Y. Kythreotou Theodorou, P. Gryczka, W. Chandler.
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 2015, A35) 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 15 November 2024 with the Registry of the Enlarged Board of Appeal, quoting case number G 1/24, and should be marked for the attention of Mr Nicolas Michaleczek (EBAamicuscuriae@epo.org).