T 1283/19 - A request for conversion in appeal

Key points

• The appellant/applicant is a natural person represented at the relevant time by a person (link to the file) who, it seems, was at that time a lawyer of an EPC contracting state.
• The applicant's auxiliary request was that, in translation: "- as auxiliary request I, that the board activates and formalizes the request for conversion under Article 135 EPC;"
• The Board: "In view of the suspensive effect of the appeal (Article 106(1), second sentence, EPC), the appellants' request for conversion cannot be considered during the appeal proceedings, since such a request for conversion cannot be issued before the application is deemed withdrawn, withdrawn or denied. Taking the above into account, the board cannot deal with the request for conversion under Article 135(1)(b) EPC, nor the request for reimbursement of the fee paid by the appellants under this head."
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• The interested reader can check if a request for conversion shows up in the online file : https://register.epo.org/application?number=EP16001340&lng=en&tab=doclist 
•  an Abzweigung in Germany can also be filed.
  

EPO 

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

https://new.epo.org/fr/boards-of-appeal/decisions/t191283fu1.html

Machine translation

Auxiliary request I

5. Request for conversion under Article 135 EPC

5.1 According to Article 135(1) (a) and (b) EPC the central industrial property office of a designated contracting state initiates, at the applicant's request, the procedure for the grant of a national patent if the European patent application shall be deemed to be withdrawn under Article 77(3) or in other cases provided for by national law where, under this Convention, the European patent application is either refused, withdrawn or deemed to be withdrawn.

5.2 Article 135(3) EPC provides that in the cases referred to in paragraph 1(b), the request for conversion must be submitted to the European Patent Office in accordance with the Implementing Regulations. The European Patent Office shall forward the request to the central industrial property offices of the Contracting States mentioned therein.

5.3 According to Rule 155(1) EPC, the request for conversion under Article 135(1)(b) EPC must be filed within three months of either the withdrawal of the European patent application or the notification that the application is deemed to be withdrawn, or of the decision to reject the European patent application. The European patent application ceases to produce the effects referred to in Article 66 EPC if the request is not filed within the time limits.

5.4 In view of the suspensive effect of the appeal (Article 106(1), second sentence, EPC), the appellants' request for conversion cannot be considered during the appeal proceedings, since such a request for conversion cannot be issued before the application is deemed withdrawn, withdrawn or denied. Taking the above into account, the board cannot deal with the request for conversion under Article 135(1)(b) EPC, nor the request for reimbursement of the fee paid by the appellants under this head.