The present case relates to the admittance of a new ground for opposition which was raised during the oral proceedings before the opposition division but had deliberately not been decided upon by the opposition division. In the absence of a positive decision on admittance by the opposition division, the Board considered that the ground for opposition under Article 100 c) EPC should be treated as a fresh ground at the appeal stage and its admittance should be governed by the principles set forth in G 10/91, which require the proprietor’s consent for its introduction into the appeal proceedings.
Case date: 21 January 2022
Case number: T 0077/18
Court: European Patent Office (EPO), Board of Appeal
A full summary of this case has been published on Kluwer IP Law.
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