09/01/2015
The Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office are to be reformed -- but how?
The current organisation of the Boards of Appeal is to be reformed, but how to achieve this is still a mystery.IPKat reports that the Board 28, a subcommittee of the Administrative Council (AC) according to Article 28 EPC, is discussing this reform. However, the composition of the Board 28 is shrouded in secrecy and the minutes of such meetings that have limited circulation do not record attendance and contain no detail.
A rumour is that the Boards of Appeal might be moved to Berlin, to make them physically distant and so give implied independence by geographical separation. It is not clear whether this would accompany greater, or less, actual independence and separation of their judicial function from the administration of the EPO.