The Enlarged Board of Appeal,

having regard to Rule 13 of the Implementing Regulations to the European Patent Convention, as amended by decision CA/D 6/16 of the Administrative Council of 30 June 2016, which entered into force on 1 July 2016 (see OJ EPO 2016, A100),

and to Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Rules of Procedure of the Enlarged Board of Appeal,

hereby adopts the following business distribution scheme:

PART I:
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

Members of the Enlarged Board of Appeal

(1) The internal members of the Enlarged Board of Appeal (Article 11(3) EPC) are:

Chairman:

Carl Josefsson

Legally qualified members:

Ingo Beckedorf

Martina Blasi

Fritz Blumer

Tamás Bokor

Jean Geschwind

Rainer Moufang

Bernhard Müller

David Rogers

Wolfgang Sekretaruk

Wim van der Eijk

Technically qualified members:

Paola Acton

Gabriele Alt

Marco Alvazzi Delfrate

Graham Ashley

Roland Bekkering

Ernst Bendl

Kemal Bengi-Akyuerek

William Chandler

Albert de Vries

Gunnar Eliasson

Pascal Gryczka

Andreas Haderlein

Michael Harrison

Christian Kunzelmann

Albert Lindner

Richard Lord

Marcus O. Müller

Martin Müller

Michael Poock

(until 30.06.2020)

Giovanni Pricolo

Andrea Ritzka

Jean-Michel Schwaller

Paul Scriven

Daniele Semino

Beat Stolz

Ambrogio Usuelli

(2) The legally qualified external members of the Enlarged Board of Appeal (Article 11(5) EPC) are:

Michael Sachs (AT)

Samuel Granata (BE)

Anna Dimitrova (BG)

Kathrin Klett (CH)

Stelios Nathanael (CY)

Aleš Sabol (CZ)

Jochem Gröning (DE)

Ele Liiv (EE)

Angel Galgo Peco (ES)

Jussi Karttunen (FI)

Marie-Christine Courboulay (FR)

Richard Arnold (GB)

Mirna Maržić (HR)

Brian Cregan (IE)

Marina Tavassi (IT)

Goda Ambrasaitė-Balynienė (LT)

Muriel Dorato-Chicouras (MC)

Robert van Peursem (NL)

Per Kaare Nerdrum (NO)

Eleonora Viegas (PT)

Andreia Constanda (RO)

Dragica Popesku (RS)

Per Carlson (SE)

Marko Brus (SI)

Adem Aslan (TR).

PART II:
PROCEEDINGS UNDER ARTICLE 112 EPC

Article 2

Composition of the Enlarged Board of Appeal in proceedings under Article 112 EPC

(1) Decisions shall be taken by an Enlarged Board of Appeal consisting of seven members, of whom no more than two may have the same nationality.

(a) The regular members shall be:

Chairman:

Carl Josefsson

Legally qualified members:

Ingo Beckedorf^[ * ]

Fritz Blumer

Tamás Bokor

Wim van der Eijk

Technically qualified members:

Gunnar Eliasson

Andrea Ritzka

(b) replaced as necessary by the following alternates:

Legally qualified members:

Rainer Moufang

Wolfgang Sekretaruk

Bernhard Müller

David Rogers

Martina Blasi

Jean Geschwind

Technically qualified members:

Pascal Gryczka

Giovanni Pricolo

Michael Harrison

Michael Poock

(until 30.06.2020)

Albert de Vries

Albert Lindner

Graham Ashley

Gabriele Alt

William Chandler

Roland Bekkering

Richard Lord

Christian Kunzelmann

Ernst Bendl

Daniele Semino

Paola Acton

Beat Stolz

Paul Scriven

Marcus O. Müller

Jean-Michel Schwaller

Martin Müller

Kemal Bengi-Akyuerek

Marco Alvazzi Delfrate

Andreas Haderlein

Ambrogio Usuelli

(2) The substitute for the Chairman shall be one of the legally qualified members in the order listed in paragraph 1(a).

(3) Where a regular member has participated in a case referred to the Enlarged Board of Appeal or in a decision which is the subject of a referral of the President of the European Patent Office, the Chairman shall, after consulting the regular members (paragraph 1(a)), appoint as substitute a member from amongst the alternates (paragraph 1(b)) or an external legally qualified member in accordance with paragraph 5. The same applies if a regular member is prevented from participating.

(4) If a case involving a question of substantive patentability or other points of law having a technical aspect is referred to the Enlarged Board, the Chairman may, after consulting the regular members, designate a technically qualified member with the relevant technical knowledge from amongst the alternates (paragraph 1(b)), as substitute for a technically qualified regular member.

(5) If a case whose scope extends beyond the internal administration of the European Patent Office is referred to the Enlarged Board, the Chairman may, after consulting the regular members, designate one or two legally qualified external members (Article 1(2)) to replace one or two legally qualified regular members.

Article 3

Designation of legally qualified external members

(1) The legally qualified external members shall be called upon in the alphabetical order used by the Administrative Council for listing the Contracting States, provided there is a match between the language of the proceedings and their working language(s).

(2) Newly appointed legally qualified external members will not be called upon until the next round, if at the date of their appointment another member who is further down the list according to Article 1(2) has already been called upon.

(3) Should a legally qualified external member be unavailable, then the next legally qualified external member according to Article 1(2) is to be called upon.

(4) Where an external legally qualified member is unavailable because the language of the proceedings does not correspond to his working languages, he shall be called upon for the next case in his working language under Article 2(5).

Article 4

Composition of the Enlarged Board where a number of referrals are closely linked

Where several referrals pending before the Enlarged Board are closely linked by involving similar points of law, the Chairman may order that the Board shall decide in the same composition. In such a case the composition shall be the same as for the first received referral.

PART III:
PROCEEDINGS UNDER ARTICLE 112a EPC

Article 5

Composition of the Enlarged Board of Appeal in proceedings under Article 112a EPC

Decisions shall be taken by an Enlarged Board consisting of three or five members.

The regular members shall be:

Chairman:

Carl Josefsson

Legally qualified members:

Wim van der Eijk

Ingo Beckedorf^[ * ]

Rainer Moufang

Fritz Blumer

Tamás Bokor

Wolfgang Sekretaruk

Bernhard Müller

David Rogers

Martina Blasi

Jean Geschwind

Technically qualified members:

Gunnar Eliasson

Andrea Ritzka

Pascal Gryczka

Giovanni Pricolo

Michael Harrison

Michael Poock

(until 30.06.2020)

Albert de Vries

Albert Lindner

Graham Ashley

Gabriele Alt

William Chandler

Roland Bekkering

Richard Lord

Christian Kunzelmann

Ernst Bendl

Daniele Semino

Paola Acton

Beat Stolz

Paul Scriven

Marcus O. Müller

Jean-Michel Schwaller

Martin Müller

Kemal Bengi-Akyuerek

Marco Alvazzi Delfrate

Andreas Haderlein

Ambrogio Usuelli.

Article 6

Composition of an Enlarged Board consisting of three members

(1) On receipt of a petition for review by the registry, the Chairman shall, from amongst the regular members, determine the composition of the Board which is to examine it pursuant to Rule 109(2)(a) EPC.

(2) Individual cases shall be assigned to the regular members of the Enlarged Board one after another in the order of their listing in Article 5. The Chairman may depart from this order for serious reasons, such as illness, workload, language requirements of the case or, in designating the technically qualified member, the possession of relevant technical expertise. In that event the next member in the order indicated in the first sentence shall be appointed in accordance with the above criteria. A member not appointed on account of the second sentence or of paragraph 3 shall be appointed to the next case in accordance with the above criteria.

(3) If a regular member is excluded under Article 2(6) of the Rules of Procedure of the Enlarged Board of Appeal from taking part in the review proceedings, the Chairman shall appoint another regular member as substitute in accordance with paragraph 2.

(4) The substitute for the Chairman shall be one of the legally qualified regular members listed in Article 5.

(5) The Chairman may designate one legally qualified external member (Article 1(2)) to replace one legally qualified regular member in accordance with Article 3.

Article 7

Composition of an Enlarged Board consisting of five members

(1) Once a petition for review has been submitted, under Article 17 of the Rules of Procedure of the Enlarged Board of Appeal, to a Board composed according to Rule 109(2)(b) EPC, the Chairman shall designate the additional legally qualified members from amongst the regular members in accordance with Article 6(2).

(2) Article 6(3) and (5) shall apply mutatis mutandis.

Article 8

Composition of the Enlarged Board where a number of petitions for review are closely linked

Where several petitions for review pending before the Enlarged Board are closely linked, the Chairman may order that the Board shall decide in the same composition. In such a case the composition for all petitions shall be as for the petition received first.

Article 9

Change of a composition

(1) If the Chairman cannot or can no longer participate in the case to which he has been assigned, he shall be replaced by one of the legally qualified regular members listed in Article 5.

(2) If a member cannot or can no longer participate in the case to which he has been assigned, the Chairman shall designate another member in accordance with Articles 6 and 7.

PART IV:
PROCEEDINGS UNDER ARTICLE 23(1), FIRST SENTENCE, EPC

Article 10

Composition of the Enlarged Board of Appeal in proceedings under Article 23(1), first sentence, EPC

(1) Decisions shall be taken by an Enlarged Board of Appeal composed according to the provisions of Article 22(2), first sentence, EPC and Article 2(5) RPEBA. No more than two members may have the same nationality.

(2) The regular and alternate members are those listed in Article 2(1)(a) and (b). The legally qualified external members are those listed in Article 1(2).

(3) The alternate for the Chairman shall be one of the regular legally qualified members in the order listed in Article 2(1)(a).

(4) Subject to paragraphs 1 and 3, regular members shall be appointed by the alternate for the Chairman in the order listed in Article 2(1)(a). Where a regular legally qualified member is prevented from participating, the alternate for the Chairman shall appoint the next regular legally qualified member on the list. Where no regular member is available, the alternate for the Chairman shall, after consulting the regular members (Article 2(1)(a)), appoint as substitute a member from amongst the alternates (Article 2(1)(b)).

(5) External members will be appointed in accordance with Article 3.

PART V:
FINAL PROVISION

Article 11

Term of validity

This business distribution scheme shall apply from 1 January 2020 until 31 December 2020.

Done at Haar on 9 December 2019

For the Enlarged Board of Appeal

The Chairman

C. JOSEFSSON