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Notice from the European Patent Office dated 13 April 2021
concerning the resumption of proceedings following decision G 1/19 of
the Enlarged Board of Appeal
This text is intended for publication in the
Official Journal (OJ) of the EPO. It is made available in advance on
the EPO website merely as a courtesy to the public. Only the text
subsequently published in the officially certified PDF file of the OJ is
authentic. It cannot be guaranteed that this advance version accurately
replicates that text.
1. On 10 April 2019, the President of the
European Patent Office (EPO) decided to stay, ex officio, all
proceedings before EPO examining and opposition divisions in which the
decision depended entirely on the outcome of the Enlarged Board of
Appeal’s decision on referral G 1/19 (see OJ EPO 2019, A35).
2. On 10 March 2021 the Enlarged Board of Appeal issued decision G 1/19.
It endorsed the Office’s long-established practice of how to assess the
patentability of computer-implemented inventions. The Enlarged Board of
Appeal confirmed that this practice – and particularly the COMVIK
approach – also applies to computer-implemented simulations.
3. The President of the EPO has decided to
lift the stay with effect from 11 March 2021. Affected proceedings will
be gradually resumed. A communication regarding the resumption of
proceedings will be issued in the cases concerned.