An Appeal Board of the European Patent Office Rejects an Appeal as inadmissible

In a decision of May 20, 2016 (T 1435/11), the appeal of the patentee has been rejected by the Board of Appeal as being inadmissible. In the first instance proceedings before the Opposition Division, the patentee has defended his patent only in a restricted version. Together with the reasons of appeal, he has submitted a request to maintain the patent as granted and additionally some “proposals for auxiliary requests.” The reasons of appeal neither explained the order according to which these “proposals” should be treated nor whether they are in place additionally or alternatively to the auxiliary requests, which have been introduced in the first instance proceedings. The Board of Appeal came to the conclusion that the appeal is inadmissible. The patent can no longer be defended as granted because it has not been defended this way in the first instance. The presentation of “proposals for auxiliary requests” without giving an order and clarification of the relation to the auxiliary request in the first instance is not admissible because the subject matter of the appeal proceedings is not defined.