Decision Upheld That Oral Proceedings Can Be Held Via Video Conference Without The Agreement Of All Parties

• Published date: 17 August 2022
• Subject Matter: Intellectual Property, Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration, Patent, Court Procedure, Trials & Appeals & Compensation
• Law Firm: Marks & Clerk
• Author: Thomas Storey

During the summer of 2021, the Enlarged Board of Appeal published a decision G1/21 which allows oral proceedings to be held via video conference, even if not all of the parties have given their consent to the oral proceedings being in the form of a video conference. The caveat to this decision is that it only applies,

"during a general emergency impairing the parties' possibilities to attend in-person oral proceedings at the EPO premises".

This decision was made when there were still many travel restrictions in place that were in a constant state of flux. While travel restrictions between many countries in Europe have been lifted, a recent case dated 26 July 2022 has upheld the decision of G1/21. In this case, T 2791/19, the appellant requested oral proceedings in person and was rejected. The appellant provided arguments such as, "there is no longer an emergency within the meaning of G1/21, since there are no longer any restrictions on public life", and that the corona virus is now a general life risk.

Ultimately the arguments were rejected, as at the time the number of new infections in Munich was rising. The reasons given...