T 0129/88 (Fibre) of 10.2.1992

European Case Law Identifier: ECLI:EP:BA:1992:T012988.19920210
Date of decision: 10 February 1992
Case number: T 0129/88
Application number: 80200517.3
IPC class: D01F 6/60
Language of proceedings: EN
Distribution: A
Download and more information:
Decision text in EN (PDF, 536 KB)
Documentation of the appeal procedure can be found in the Register
Bibliographic information is available in: EN
Versions: OJ | Published
Title of application: -
Applicant name: AKZO
Opponent name: Du Pont de Nemours
Board: 3.3.03
Headnote: 1. Although the European Patent Office has an obligation under Article 114(1) EPC to investigate matters of its own motion, that obligation does not extend as far as investigating an allegation of prior public use, where the party who formerly made that allegation has withdrawn from the proceedings, and it is difficult to establish all the relevant facts without his cooperation.
2. The inclusion in claims of features expressed in terms of having desirable properties in excess of a given lower limit is not inherently objectionable. In particular the scope of a claim may be adequately defined if the number of parameters so expressed has the effect of imposing practical upper limits having regard to the totality of features expressed in the claim (T 487/89 of 17 July 1991 - not published in OJ EPO - followed).
3. The incluslion in a product claim of one or more process features may be permissible if their presence is desirable having regard to the impact of the national laws of one or more Contacting States. (T 150/82, OJ EPO 1984, 309 explained and applied).
Relevant legal provisions:
European Patent Convention 1973 Art 84
European Patent Convention 1973 Art 114(1)
Keywords: Limited obligation of the EPO to investigate of its own motion
Clarity of claims
Catchwords:

-

Cited decisions:
-
Citing decisions:
G 0002/12
G 0002/13
T 0634/91
T 0957/91
T 0099/92
T 0252/93
T 0505/93
T 0034/94
T 0558/95
T 0945/95
T 0864/99
T 0061/00
T 1028/01
T 1047/03
T 0963/04
T 1024/04
T 1018/05
T 1630/06
T 1947/07
T 1817/08
T 1224/09
T 0553/11
T 1943/15

20 references found.

Click X to load a reference inside the current page, click on the title to open in a new page.

Offical Journal of the EPO

Case Law Book: I Patentability

Case Law Book: II Conditions to be met by an Application

Case Law Book: V Priority

Case Law of the Enlarged Board

General Case Law