The President of the European Patent Office, having regard to Articles 10(2)(a) and 116 of the European Patent Convention (EPC), has decided as follows:

Article 1
Pilot project

The European Patent Office has been
conducting a pilot project for oral proceedings by videoconference
before opposition divisions in accordance with the decision of the
President of the European Patent Office dated 14 April 2020 (OJ EPO 2020, A41). This pilot project is now extended to run until 15 September 2021 in accordance with the present decision.

Article 2
Oral proceedings by videoconference before opposition divisions

(1) Oral proceedings before opposition divisions are held by videoconference.

(2)
Notwithstanding paragraph 1, oral proceedings may be held on the
premises of the European Patent Office, either at the request of a party
or at the instigation of the opposition division if there are serious
reasons against holding the oral proceedings by videoconference. If a
request to hold oral proceedings on the premises of the European Patent
Office is refused, the parties will be informed of the reasons; such a
refusal is not separately appealable.

(3) Oral proceedings by videoconference are equivalent to oral proceedings held on the premises of the European Patent Office.

Article 3
Remote participation of the members of an opposition division in oral proceedings by videoconference

(1) The members of the opposition division
may connect to the videoconference remotely from different locations. In
such cases, the members of the division will deliberate and vote among
themselves via a separate communication channel.

(2) The parties will be informed of the
remote participation of members of the opposition division before the
start of the oral proceedings.

(3) The venue of the oral proceedings will be deemed to be the location where the opposition division is set up.

Article 4
Participation of parties and accompanying persons

Parties, their representatives and any
persons accompanying the parties or representatives may connect to the
videoconference from different locations, on condition that the number
of additional participants does not impair the efficient conduct of the
proceedings.

Article 5
Admission of the public

Oral proceedings before the opposition
divisions are public. Members of the public can follow oral proceedings
held by videoconference either remotely upon giving prior notice or on
the premises of the European Patent Office, as determined by the
European Patent Office.

Article 6
Submissions and their transmission during oral proceedings by videoconference

(1) Where oral proceedings before an
opposition division are held by videoconference, documents are to be
filed by means of electronic communication in accordance with the
decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated
13 May 2020 concerning the filing of documents during telephone
consultations and during interviews and oral proceedings held by
videoconference (OJ EPO 2020, A71).

(2) Where oral proceedings before an
opposition division are held by videoconference, documents submitted by
one of the parties in accordance with paragraph 1 will be transmitted to
the other parties by email to the email address specified by each of
those parties during the videoconference.

(3) If the opposition division consents, a
party may present its screen for illustrative purposes; an item
displayed in that way will not be considered to constitute a document
submitted by that party.

Article 7
Technical problems

If technical problems preventing the oral
proceedings by videoconference from being conducted in accordance with
the parties’ rights under Articles 113 and 116 EPC cannot be overcome during the videoconference, the opposition division will issue a new summons to oral proceedings.

Article 8
Non-attendance at oral proceedings by videoconference

(1) If a party fails to connect to the oral
proceedings by videoconference for reasons other than technical
problems, the proceedings may continue in accordance with Rule 115(2) EPC.

(2) A party, witness or expert who is duly
summoned to give evidence and fails to connect to the oral proceedings
by videoconference as instructed will be deemed not to have appeared
before the opposition division.

Article 9
Previous decision superseded

When this decision enters into force, the
decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 14 April
2020 concerning the pilot project for oral proceedings by
videoconference before opposition divisions (OJ EPO 2020, A41) will cease to have effect.

Article 10
Entry into force

This decision enters into force on
4 January 2021. It applies to all oral proceedings before opposition
divisions scheduled to take place on or after that date.

Done at Munich, 10 November 2020

António CAMPINOS

President