Judgment No. 3782

• Organization: European Patent Organisation (EPO)
• Date: 08.02.2017
• Original: Anglais
• Judges: Barbagallo, Hansen, Rawlins
• Full judgment text (anglais) - Texte intégral du jugement

Decision

1. The EPO shall pay each complainant moral damages in the amount of 3,000 euros.
2. It shall also pay costs in the total amount of 1,200 euros.
3. All other claims are dismissed.

Summary

The complainants contest the classification of their posts.

Judgment keywords

Keywords

complaint allowed; delay; post classification; delay in internal procedure

Consideration 1

Extract:

As the complaints are nearly identical, the Tribunal finds it convenient to join them.

Keywords

joinder

Consideration 5

Extract:

The claim for moral damages for the excessive delay in the internal appeal proceedings is founded. Consistent case law holds that an unjustified duration of four years for the processing of an internal appeal constitutes an excessive delay. In the present case, the EPO has not justified in any way the three-year delay from the time of the filing of the internal appeals and the filing of its position paper. Considering the length of the delay, the nature of the question raised, and the age of the complainants, the Tribunal sets the award of moral damages in the amount of 3,000 euros per complainant.

Keywords

moral injury; delay in internal procedure