Judgment No. 4318

• Organization: European Patent Organisation (EPO)
• Date: 24.07.2020
• Original: English
• Judges: Frydman, Barbagallo, Moore
• Full judgment text - Full judgment text (french)

Decision

1. The complainant’s challenge to the composition of the Appeals Committee is rejected, as is the EPO’s counterclaim for costs.
2. The judicial proceeding will continue as indicated in consideration 12 of the judgment.

Summary

The complainant contests his objectives for the reporting exercise January to December 2015 and the composition of the Appeals Committee that issued the opinion on the basis of which the impugned decision was taken.

Judgment keywords

Keywords

performance evaluation; composition of the internal appeals body

Consideration 8

Extract:

The complainant asserts that the Chair of the Appeals Committee was not impartial as she twice put his internal appeal on the agenda for summary proceedings. The Tribunal finds this claim of lack of impartiality to be unsubstantiated. The Appeals Committee is entitled to use the summary procedure in accordance with the [rules].

Keywords

internal appeals body; impartiality

Consideration 9

Extract:

The allegation that the Appeals Committee was improperly composed due to three of the members having been members of the Committee which was found to be unlawfully composed in Judgment 3785, is unfounded. The composition of that prior Committee was found to be unlawful as it breached the applicable rules in force at the material time, not for any reason relating to the individual members.

Reference(s)

ILOAT Judgment(s): 3785

Keywords

conflict of interest; composition of the internal appeals body