Appeal Procedure Before The European Patent Office - Overview

Overview

Decisions of the first instance departments of the European Patent Office (EPO) can be appealed, i.e. challenged, before the Boards of Appeal of the EPO, in a judicial procedure (proper to an administrative court), as opposed to an administrative procedure. These boards act as the final instances in the granting and opposition procedures before the EPO. The Boards of Appeal have been recognized as courts, or tribunals, of an international organization, the EPO.

The Boards of Appeal of the EPO, including the Enlarged Board of Appeal, are based at the headquarters of the EPO in Munich, Germany. This contrasts with the Examining Divisions and Opposition Divisions, the first instance departments carrying the examination of patent applications and of oppositions to granted European patents, which may be in Munich, in Rijswijk (a suburb of The Hague, Netherlands), or in Berlin, Germany.