R 0001/20 - Petition for review case

Key points

• The petition for review was filed on 03.02.2020. The decision of the Enlarged Board in a three-member composition to unanimously reject the petition as clearly unallowable was taken in writing on 12.07.2024 after the cancellation of the oral proceedings. 
• Hence, the procedure before the Enlarged Board in the three-member composition lasted 4 years and 5 months.
• Let me cite the Explanatory Remarks to the EPC 2000, Article 112a EPC, from OJ 2007 Special Edition 4 (link): 
• 12. "The possibility of filing a petition for review must not cause long-lasting legal uncertainty for third parties. "
• 18. "In the interest of a quick and effective screening of petitions for review which are clearly inadmissible or not allowable, special procedural provisions apply to the three-member panel of the Enlarged Board established under Article 22(2), second sentence, and Rule 109(2) EPC 2000 (see explanatory remark n° 4 to Article 22 EPC). "
• "The proceedings before this panel shall be as simple and short as possible."
• "Therefore, this body shall decide in written summary proceedings without the involvement of other parties and on the basis of the petition (see Rule 109(3) EPC 2000). A quick screening procedure at the outset of review proceedings to sort out petitions which clearly cannot be successful is essential in order to avoid an inappropriate prolongation of legal uncertainty for third parties. It is also of great importance to counteract effectively intentional prolongation of proceedings by filing a petition for review."

• The complete timeline of the application is as follows: PCT application filed in 2008, request for entry in 2010, grant in 2011, opposition filed in 2011, decision OD in 2015, and Decision Technical Board of Appeal in 2019. 

EPO 

The link to the decision can be found after the jump.

https://www.epo.org/fr/boards-of-appeal/decisions/r200001fu1