1. According to the decision of the
President of the European Patent Office dated 22 November 2022, oral
proceedings before examining divisions, opposition divisions, the Legal
Division and the Receiving Section (hereinafter referred to as “the
division”) are to be held by videoconference.^[ 1 ] Likewise, it is preferable to hold consultations in examination by videoconference.^[ 2 ]

2. This notice provides updated information
about the conditions and practice as regards oral proceedings and
consultations by videoconference. It supersedes the previous notice
concerning oral proceedings before examining and opposition divisions,
and consultations, by videoconference dated 10 November 2020 (OJ EPO 2020, A122).

Format of oral proceedings

3. As a rule, where oral proceedings have
been requested or are considered expedient by the division, the parties
to the proceedings will be summoned to oral proceedings held by
videoconference.

4. Oral proceedings may only be held on the
premises of the European Patent Office (EPO) if there are serious
reasons against holding them by videoconference.^[ 3 ]
Examples of serious reasons are, in particular, reasons relating to a
participant in the oral proceedings as an individual (e.g. a proven
visual impairment that prevents a representative from following oral
proceedings on screen) and reasons related to the nature and
subject-matter of the proceedings (e.g. where they involve the
demonstration or inspection of an object where the haptic features are
essential or the inspection of an object that cannot be made available
for inspection by videoconference). Sweeping objections based on the
reliability of videoconferencing technology or the non-availability of
videoconferencing equipment will, as a rule, not qualify as serious
reasons in this regard.

Requests for oral proceedings on the premises of the EPO

5. A request that oral proceedings be held
by way of exception on the premises of the EPO should be filed as early
as possible, preferably together with the request for oral proceedings.

6. If a request for oral proceedings on the
premises of the EPO cannot be allowed and is received after the summons
to oral proceedings, the division will inform the parties that the oral
proceedings will take place by videoconference as set out in the summons
and include a brief reasoning as to why the request cannot be granted.
If the request is received before the summons has been issued, the
reasons for the refusal will be given in the annex to the summons. In
either case, a refusal of this type is not a separately appealable
decision.

7. If a request for oral proceedings on the
premises of the EPO is allowable and is received after the summons to
oral proceedings by videoconference has been issued, the parties will be
informed that oral proceedings will be held on the premises of the EPO
as requested; where possible, the date of the oral proceedings will
remain unchanged.

Technical information

8. Detailed information on the
videoconferencing technology and tools used by the EPO and on the
minimum technical requirements is available on the EPO website. This
information may be updated from time to time and users are therefore
advised to check the website regularly. It will also be communicated to
the parties prior to oral proceedings by videoconference, normally
together with the summons.

9. All participants in oral proceedings or
consultations by videoconference must ensure that their
videoconferencing equipment meets the technical requirements specified.
They are encouraged to perform a test call well before the oral
proceedings take place.

Date and time of oral proceedings and consultations by videoconference

10. Oral proceedings and consultations held by videoconference will take place on an EPO working day within EPO working hours.

Confirmation email

11. In addition to the summons, participants
will receive an email confirming the date, time and the videoconference
contact details to be used to establish the connection (in the form of a
link or by other suitable means) and containing any further appropriate
information, including on the organisation of the videoconference.

Remote connection of members of an examining or opposition division

12. The members of an examining or
opposition division may connect to oral proceedings by videoconference
from different locations. In such cases, they will deliberate and vote
among themselves via a separate communication channel or so-called
“virtual deliberation room”.

Participation of parties and their representatives from different locations

13. The parties, their representatives and
any persons accompanying the parties or representatives, as well as
witnesses and experts, may connect to the videoconference from different
locations.

Ban on recording

14. No image or sound recording, or
retransmission, may be made of any part of oral proceedings or
consultations held by videoconference other than by the EPO.

Submission and transmission of documents

15. During oral proceedings and consultations held by videoconference, documents must be filed by email.^[ 4 ] The division will provide the parties or representatives with the email address to be used.

16. Any emails and attached documents filed
by a party during oral proceedings with more than one party will be
forwarded by the EPO to the other parties present at the proceedings,
unless the party in question has already sent them directly to the email
addresses indicated by the other parties. Therefore, each party must
communicate to the chairperson and, where possible, to the other parties
at the beginning of the oral proceedings the email address it wishes to
use for receiving copies of such documents. Parties and representatives
must ensure that they can immediately take note of any document sent to
the email address indicated by them.

17. If the 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.

Technical problems

18. Where, notwithstanding all efforts of
the participants, technical problems prevent the oral proceedings by
videoconference from being conducted or continued, a new summons to oral
proceedings will be issued. As a rule, such new oral proceedings will
be held by videoconference, unless there are serious reasons for not
doing so.

Equipment and costs

19. The EPO videoconference studios are for the use of EPO staff only.

20. The EPO does not require the payment of a
specific fee for holding oral proceedings or consultations by
videoconference. Participants will bear only the costs for their
connection to the internet and any technical facilities or software at
their end.

Attendance of members of the public at opposition oral proceedings

21. Oral proceedings in opposition proceedings are public, in so far as the opposition division does not decide otherwise (Article 116(4) EPC). Oral proceedings before the Receiving Section, the examining divisions and the Legal Division are not public (Article 116(3) EPC).

22. Members of the public may gain remote
access to opposition oral proceedings using a link provided upon
request. Requests must be submitted via email to the EPO at [email protected]
at least three working days prior to the date indicated in the summons
to the oral proceedings. Requests submitted later than that may not be
processed in time and may consequently be disregarded.

23. The request must be filed by or on
behalf of the member of the public wishing to attend the oral
proceedings remotely (“the requester”) and must indicate:

•  the application number
•  the date of the oral proceedings
•  the requester’s name
•  the requester’s email address

24. Any request for remote access to oral
proceedings by a member of the public will be deemed to constitute
acceptance of the conditions for remote attendance of oral proceedings
as set out in the annex to this notice.

25. The EPO will send connection details for
the oral proceedings to the requester at the email address indicated in
their request.

26. In exceptional circumstances, access may
be denied if the number of requests received exceeds the limit set and
risks having an adverse impact on the conduct of the oral proceedings or
if the requester, having attended oral proceedings by videoconference
in the previous six months, has been found to have acted in breach of
the conditions for remote attendance of oral proceedings by
videoconference as set out in the annex to this notice.

Further information

27. Further information on the technology,
procedure and etiquette for conducting oral proceedings and
consultations by videoconference is available on the EPO website.

Annex

Conditions for public access to oral proceedings before opposition divisions

Remote attendance by a member of the public is subject to the following conditions:

1. Members of the public wishing to attend
oral proceedings remotely must provide information about themselves in
order to obtain the connection details for remote access.

2. Participation is restricted to listening
to the sound and watching the images transmitted during the oral
proceedings. Members of the public may not switch on their microphone or
camera unless asked to do so by the chairperson. They are not entitled
to speak or otherwise become involved in the oral proceedings, unless
specifically invited to do so by the chairperson.

3. If so requested by the chairperson, a
member of the public must temporarily switch on their camera to allow
the participants to ascertain their identity just as if they were
attending the oral proceedings in person on the premises of the EPO.

4. It is prohibited for members of the
public, or any other person, attending oral proceedings remotely to make
or retransmit video and/or sound recordings of any part of the oral
proceedings. Members of the public wishing to attend oral proceedings
must accept full responsibility for ensuring that the connection
established using the details provided by the EPO is not used for
recording or retransmission.

5. The connection details provided by the
EPO to members of the public to enable them to attend oral proceedings
remotely are intended for the sole and exclusive use of the requester.
They may not share these details with any third party and must accept
full responsibility for any consequences arising from the unauthorised
use of the connection details by a third party.

6. Members of the public must abide by any
instructions issued to them by the chairperson in the interest of the
efficient and undisrupted conduct of the oral proceedings.

7. The submission of a request for remote
access to oral proceedings by a member of the public will be deemed to
constitute acceptance of these conditions for remote attendance of oral
proceedings.

8. Any breach of these conditions may result
in the exclusion of the member of the public from the oral proceedings.
Where the chairperson finds that the above conditions have been
breached in a manner that may compromise the efficient conduct of the
oral proceedings or adversely affect the rights of the other
participants in the oral proceedings in an undue manner, or if other
serious reasons so demand, they may ask the member of the public
concerned to leave the oral proceedings and terminate their connection.

^[ 1 ]
Article 1(1) of the decision of the President of the European Patent
Office dated 22 November 2022 concerning the format of oral proceedings
before examining and opposition divisions, the Legal Division and the
Receiving Section.

^[ 2 ] Guidelines for Examination in the EPO C-VII, 2.1.

^[ 3 ]
Article 1(2) of the decision of the President of the European Patent
Office dated 22 November 2022 concerning the format of oral proceedings
before examining and opposition divisions, the Legal Division and the
Receiving Section.

^[ 4 ]
Article 1(1) of 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).