T 0928/19 - Remitted for search in patent year 17

Key points

• Filed as a direct European application in 2007. Search report in 2008. First Communication in 2010. Refusal in 2018. Appeal decision issued in writing in 2024.
• "The Board therefore finds the claimed invention not to be obvious when starting from D1. "
• "The Board notes that document D1, relied upon by the Examining Division, is a document mainly directed to a localised load redistribution, which is conceptually the opposite of the claimed invention. Also, and perhaps more importantly, although front-end/back-end server architectures were well known in the art at the filing date of the application, the decision does not refer to any such document. More relevant prior art may therefore exist."
• "Under these circumstances the Board decides to remit the case to the Examining Division for further prosecution (Article 111(1) EPC), possibly including an additional search."

EPO 

A link to the decision is provided after the jump, as well as (an extract of) the decision text.

https://www.epo.org/en/boards-of-appeal/decisions/t190928eu1

17. Reconsidering the facts of the case, and in particular the teachings of D1, in view of the above, the Board follows the Appellant and comes to the conclusion that the skilled person could have arrived at the invention as laid out above, but that it cannot be asserted that he or she would have.

18. The Board therefore finds the claimed invention not to be obvious when starting from D1.

Remittal

19. The Board notes that document D1, relied upon by the Examining Division, is a document mainly directed to a localised load redistribution, which is conceptually the opposite of the claimed invention. Also, and perhaps more importantly, although front-end/back-end server architectures were well known in the art at the filing date of the application, the decision does not refer to any such document. More relevant prior art may therefore exist.

19.1 Under these circumstances the Board decides to remit the case to the Examining Division for further prosecution (Article 111(1) EPC), possibly including an additional search.