Tuesday, February 27, 2018 T 1567/17 – an unclear waiver is no waiver

In this case, the examining division issued a direct refusal after the appellant had rejected the text intended for grant and requested that examination be resumed based on reasoned amendments. The new main claim incorporated an amended feature which, according to appellant’s own statement, “could be omitted if regarded as violating Art. 123(2)”. The examining division indeed regarded the amended feature as a violation, and interpreted the appellant’s statement as an acknowledgement that the amendment could not be unambiguously derived from the description as filed. The appellant was given no opportunity to respond to the division’s opinion on this issue.

The Board held that the direct refusal of the application was in violation of Art. 113(1) EPC, since the appellant’s statement could not be construed as waiving the right to be heard, but merely intimated that a new R. 71(3) communication would have been accepted on the basis of amended claims without the feature in question.

Only an unambiguous statement as to waiving a party's right to be heard is to be interpreted as a waiver of this right.

Catchwords:

The applicant's remark in a response under Rule 71(6) EPC that an amended feature "can also be omitted if regarded as violating Article 123(2) EPC" cannot be construed as waiving its right to be heard and its right to a reasoned decision in case the application were to be refused. Rather, this remark merely intimates that the applicant would accept the issue of a new communication under Rule 71(3) EPC on the basis of the amended set of claims without said feature.

Tuesday, June 30, 2015 T 1775/12 - Second Oral Proceedings

If an application is granted on a request filed during oral proceedings, does that applicant have a right to second oral proceedings if that request is refused? 

To set the context, I'll summarize the prosecution history. In 2008 this application was filed as one of four divisionals. During prosecution two official communications were sent under art. 94(3), after each of which an amended claim set was filed. In response to a summons for oral proceedings a further amended claim set was filed. During the oral proceedings, an auxiliary request was filed, followed by an amended auxiliary request. The latter was then granted.

After receiving the intention to grant communication (R.71(3)), the applicant files a new request. The new claim set has been broadened with respect to the granted claim set by deleting a feature. In the ensuing correspondence, the applicant request new oral proceedings "as a matter of precaution", however the Examining division now refuses the application without granting a second oral proceeding.

The board of appeal sides with the applicant and finds that his right to be heard was violated. The case is remitted and a second oral proceeding is to be held. It appears however, that the second oral proceedings may be limited to the issue of admissibility.

The board provided the following catchwords: