T 0514/21 - Wire-guided torpedo

Key points

• The invention is about a (military) torpedo.
• The European patent application was filed as a European patent application, without priority, on paper with the Chamber of Commerce of Rome on 08.04.2008.
• The competent (Italian) military authority objected to the forwarding of the application (notification of 8 May 2008). 
• The applicant had to file the translation of the application with the Italian patent office, and did so on 6 June 2008. 
• The application was forwarded to the EPO on 14.07.2008.
• Search report in 2008.
• Examination started in 2015 (! -  those were the dark days). Intention to grant in 2017. Grant in 2018. Opposition filed in 2019. Decision OD in February 2021 to reject the opposition. The Board revokes the patent in appeal.
• "the board comes to the conclusion that the subject-matter of claim 1 of the main request is not new in view of D19."
• "D19|Excerpt of the file with archive signature BW 1/387667, cover page, documentation "Aktenpr fung" (Anlage 3), pages 2 to 7 and figures 1 to 7|"
• This is a letter to the German Department of Defense sent in 1967. Perhaps it became public in the national archives in 1997 but the document itself is not very clear. 
• " the respondent did not provide any arguments questioning the finding in the decision under appeal according to which D19 was part of the state of the art according to Article 54(2) EPC. The board agrees with that finding in the decision under appeal."

EPO 

The link to the decision and an extract of it can be found after the jump.

https://www.epo.org/en/boards-of-appeal/decisions/t210514eu1