"Appeal stage - ex parte appeals" [2020] ELECD 147; in Muller, O. Marcus; Mulder, A.M. Cees (eds), "Proceedings Before the European Patent Office" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2020) 190

Book Title: Proceedings Before the European Patent Office

Editor(s): Müller, O. Marcus; Mulder, A.M. Cees

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 5

Section Title: Appeal stage – ex parte appeals

Number of pages: 6

Abstract/Description:

The previous chapter addressed issues relevant to inter partes appeals, i.e. appeals against decisions of opposition divisions. This chapter will deal with ex parte appeals, in particular appeals against decisions of examining divisions (see Figure 5.1). To a large extent, the observations made above for inter partes appeals apply equally to these ex parte appeals. Therefore in the present chapter only those points that distinguish ex parte appeal from inter partes appeal proceedings will be mentioned. Some statistical data: the number of ex parte appeals received in 2018 by the European Patent Office was 1,169 (see Figure 5.2). Figure 5.3 shows the distribution of the decisions taken by the technical boards of appeal in ex parte appeal proceedings (in 2018).