G 0001/84 - Opposition by the proprietor of the patent - overturned - #93

Rank: 93
No. of citations: 56

G 1/84 is not only one of the first G decisions ever, but it is also the only G decision ever to be overturned by another, namely by G 9/93.

G 1/84 held that "self opposition", i.e., an opposition filed by the proprietor against his own patent, was admissible.  The Enlarged Board found at that time that the motives of the opponent were in principle irrelevant. Otherwise the phrase "any person" in Art. 99 would have been rendered as "any person interested". The identity of the opponent was primarily of procedural importance.

G 9/93 looked at the issue again and found the opposite: opposition by the proprietor against its own patent is not allowed. The Enlarged Board found that opposition by the proprietor is against the general character of the opposition proceedings as established in G 9/91 and G 10/91, according to which the opposition procedure must be regarded as contentious proceedings between parties who normally represent opposing interests.

The case law established by G 1/84 on the question of self opposition is thus obsolete. G 9/93 should be followed.

Nevertheless, G 1/84 should be remembered, not at least for showing that even the Enlarged Board of Appeals sometimes gets it wrong ;-)

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Headnote:

"A  notice of  opposition  against a  European patent is not inadmissble merely because it has been filed by the proprietor of that patent." (overturned)

The full text of the decision can be accessed here.