http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2022/11/latest-epo-user-survey-on-vico-oral.html
The EPO has released the results of the most recent user survey on ViCo oral proceedings. Both supporters and critics of ViCo oral proceedings will find support for their view in the report. The EPO itself concludes that ViCo has been a huge success and is welcomed and supported by users. Opponents of ViCo will point to the significant minority of users who still find ViCo proceedings “poor” or “very poor”.
In typical bullish fashion, the EPO characterises the results of the survey as providing strong backing for ViCo, with “[o]ver three-quarters of users rate VICO positively”. The EPO press release states that the report shows that “provision of new digital tools in Zoom has made it even more effective for parties to argue their cases”, and that “[m]any parties also welcome the savings in time, cost and carbon emissions resulting from not having to travel; these are conservatively estimated at over 1 000 tonnes of CO2 in 2021”.
| Cats on zoom |
Taking a deeper dive into the report itself, it appears that the EPO’s claims are, in general, broadly supported. There can be no doubt that a shift to ViCo reduces the environmental impact of proceedings. Furthermore, given the furore over the introduction of ViCo, it is reassuring and perhaps a bit surprising that 38% of the users found their experience of ViCo hearings to be “very good”.
Nonetheless, it should still come as some concern that 10% of users rated ViCo “poor” or “very poor”. There is little in the EPO report explaining the reason underlying these responses, and how serious the issues were. The report does summarise results from the feedback forms, but in a general way, highlighting only the positive feedback. PatKat can not help wondering whether there might be a correlation between a users experience of ViCo and whether they won their case…however this data was not captured in the survey and is therefore just idle speculation. There may have been serious issues in a small but significant number of cases, but it is impossible to tell whether this was the case from the information provided in the report. It would also have been interesting to see how the user experience of ViCo compared with the user experience of in-person hearings, given that in-person hearings may have their own problems (printing and dodgy wifi comes to mind…).
So what is the future of ViCo going forward? The ViCo opposition pilot program ends on 31 December 2022. However, if the glowing EPO press release is anything to go by, there can be little doubt that the use of ViCo in opposition will be extended into 2023. The EPO President may even decide to put the use of ViCo in opposition hearings on a more permanent footing.
The full report can be read here.
Further reading
EPO user survey: ViCo oral proceedings continue (to divide opinion)
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