In accordance with Article 112(1)(a) EPC, Technical Board of Appeal 3.5.02 has referred the following point of law to the Enlarged Board of Appeal by interlocutory decision of 12 March 2021 in case T 1807/15:

Is the conduct of oral proceedings in the form of a videoconference compatible with the right to oral proceedings as enshrined in Article 116(1) EPC if not all of the parties to the proceedings have given their consent to the conduct of oral proceedings in the form of a videoconference?

The text of the referral in English is available on the EPO website at www.epo.org/law-practice/case-law-appeals/recent/t151807eu1.html.

The Enlarged Board of Appeal considering the referral will be composed as follows: C. Josefsson (Chairman), W. van der Eijk, I. Beckedorf, R. Arnold, E. Chatzikos, G. Eliasson, A. Ritzka.

For more information about the procedural steps in G 1/21 reference is made to the website of the Boards of Appeal (http://www.epo.org/law-practice/case-law-appeals/communications/2021/20210324.html).