18 September 2020

T 0633/16 - Wikipedia without version

Key points

  • The Board does not admit Wikipedia citations, inter alia because “[the party has not indicated the versions of the Wikipedia extracts it refers to (e. g. the version online the day before the priority of the opposed patent or the version online the date of the statement of grounds of appeal).”
  • Nevertheless, “the Board is of the view that the passages cited from these Wikipedia extracts disclose not more than the common general knowledge of the skilled person at the priority date of the opposed patent”. 




EPO T 0633/16 - link

3.2 Admission of the appellant's Wikipedia citations
The respondent requested to disregard the Wikipedia citations "Gabriel Lippmann", "Holography" and "Heat sealer" and the appellant's arguments based thereon, because they had not been cited during the opposition proceedings and were not attached as annexes to the statement of grounds of appeal (contrary to Article 12(2)(a) RPBA 2007).
The Board notes that the appellant has not indicated the versions of the Wikipedia extracts it refers to (e. g. the version online the day before the priority of the opposed patent or the version online the date of the statement of grounds of appeal). 

Neither had it attached the extracts as annexes to the statement of grounds of appeal, contrary to the requirements of Article 12(3)(a) RPBA 2020 in combination with Article 25(1) RPBA 2020. Therefore, the Board disregards these Wikipedia extracts (Article 12(4) RPBA 2007 in combination with Article 25(2) RPBA 2020). 
In any case, the Board is of the view that the passages cited from these Wikipedia extracts disclose not more than the common general knowledge of the skilled person at the priority date of the opposed patent.



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