The ''restitutio in integrum'' or re-establishment of rights under the
European Patent Convention
The European Patent Convention (EPC), also known as the Convention on the Grant of European Patents of 5 October 1973, is a multilateral treaty instituting the European Patent Organisation and providing an autonomous legal system according to ...
(EPC) is a means of redress available to an applicant or patent proprietor who has failed to meet a time limit in spite of exercising "all due care required by the circumstances". The legal basis for this means of redress is provided in . If the request for ''restitutio in integrum'' is accepted, the applicant or patentee is re-established in its rights, as if the time limit had been duly met.
According to decision G 1/86 of the
Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office, other parties such as
opponents are not barred from the ''restitutio in integrum'' by principle. For instance, if an opponent fails to file the statement of grounds for appeal in spite of all due care, after having duly filed the notice of appeal, ''restitutio'' remedies will be available to him or her.
Legal basis and interpretation
The legal basis is provided in . Article 122(1) EPC reads:
Therefore, one of the conditions for re-establishment of rights to be possible is that:
:"the applicant must have been unable to observe a time limit vis-à-vis the EPO. ...
heword "unable" implies an objective fact or obstacle preventing the required action."
In relation to the "all due care" criterion, "an isolated mistake in a normally satisfactory system is excusable." An error may also be excusable if it resulted from exceptional circumstances.
If an applicant is represented by a
professional representative, a request for re-establishment can only be allowed if the representative himself can show that he has taken all the "due care required by the circumstances" as well. Furthermore, if an applicant is represented both by a professional representative and a non-authorised representative, such as a non-European domestic representative, "the duty of due care applies to both of them."
Decision J 4/07 of 7 July 2008
Reasons for the Decision, 3.
Procedure
Under , "the department competent to decide on the omitted act shall decide on the request for re‑establishment of rights."
Further reading
*
See also
* '' Reformatio in peius''
* ''Restitutio in integrum
''Restitutio ad integrum'', or ''restitutio in integrum'', is a Latin term that means "restoration to original condition". It is one of the primary guiding principles behind the awarding of damages in common law negligence claims.
In European pate ...
''
References
External links
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* , "Re-establishment of rights"
* , "Re-establishment of rights"
{{European Patent Organisation
European Patent Organisation