BOARDS OF APPEAL
Communication from the Enlarged Board of Appeal concerning case G 1/19
In accordance with Article 112(1)(a) EPC, Technical Board of Appeal 3.5.07 has referred the following points of law to the Enlarged Board of Appeal by interlocutory decision of 22 February 2019 in case T 489/14:
1. In the assessment of inventive step, can the computer-implemented simulation of a technical system or process solve a technical problem by producing a technical effect which goes beyond the simulation's implementation on a computer, if the computer-implemented simulation is claimed as such?
2. If the answer to the first question is yes, what are the relevant criteria for assessing whether a computer-implemented simulation claimed as such solves a technical problem? In particular, is it a sufficient condition that the simulation is based, at least in part, on technical principles underlying the simulated system or process?
3. What are the answers to the first and second questions if the computer-implemented simulation is claimed as part of a design process, in particular for verifying a design?
The text of the referral in English is available on the EPO website under
www.epo.org/law-practice/case-law-appeals/recent/t140489ex1.html.
The Enlarged Board of Appeal considering the referral will be composed as follows: C. Josefsson (Chairman), I. Beckedorf, F. Blumer, A. Aslan, T. Bokor, G. Eliasson, W. Sieber.
Third parties are hereby given the opportunity to file written statements in accordance with Article 10 of the Rules of Procedure of the Enlarged Board of Appeal (OJ EPO 2015, A35) in one of the official languages of the EPO (English, French or German).
To ensure that any such statements can be given due consideration they should be filed by 1 September 2019 with the Registry of the Enlarged Board of Appeal, quoting case number G 1/19, and should be marked for the attention of Mr Wiek Crasborn (EBAamicuscuriae@epo.org).