User
consultation on the revision of the Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal

A key part of the reform measures being undertaken to improve the
efficiency and predictability of appeal proceedings before the Boards of Appeal
of the EPO is the revision of the Boards’ Rules of Procedure (Rules of
Procedure of the Boards of Appeal – RPBA – OJ EPO 2007, 536).

The Boards of Appeal Committee (BOAC) and the President of the Boards
of Appeal therefore invite users to take part in the present written
consultation on the proposed revised Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal,
which are now available in English (first published draft dated 1
February 2018).

The
consultation focuses on the amendments to Articles 10, 12, 13, 14 and 15 RPBA,
which form the “core” of the appeal procedure. In the online
form, the current and proposed revised or
new texts of these Articles are set out side by side. Changes are clearly marked
and detailed explanatory remarks are provided.

To facilitate processing of responses, you will be requested to
comment on each Article, or parts of it, in turn. You will be asked first to
indicate your degree of satisfaction with the proposed text and then to give
the reasons for your answer in the box provided.

Finally, you will be invited to comment on the proposed
transitional provisions.

In addition to the changes to Articles 10, 12, 13, 14 and 15, a
number of smaller amendments of a more editorial nature are being proposed throughout
the rules for reasons of clarity and consistency. These amendments are provided
for information in the full pdf draft text of the proposed revised RPBA, which can
be downloaded from this webpage.

This online consultation will remain open until noon on 30 April 2018.

All replies received will be considered in due course, and it is
intended that a further draft will be issued in good time before the user
conference planned for late autumn 2018.

Thank you very much for your participation.

Participate in online consultation