In J 16/82 (OJ 1983, 262) the Legal Board stated that the conditions relating to assistants also applied in the case of a substitute replacing an assistant who was on holiday, ill or otherwise absent. Where a qualified assistant was absent, therefore, the applicant or representative had either to be able to call on a similarly qualified substitute or else must himself take over the work assigned to the assistant. The same standard of care had to be exercised as regards the choice, instruction and supervision of the substitute as of the assistant himself (see also T 105/85).
Source: http://www.epo.org/law-practice/legal-texts/html/caselaw/2019/e/clr_iii_e_5_5_4_d.htm
Date retrieved: 17 May 2021