1. If the Notice of Appeal is filed by an adversely affected
party but the Grounds of Appeal are filed by a (natural or
legal) person who, although having economic connections with
that adversely affected party, is not itself that party, the
appeal cannot be held admissible. (See reasons, points 3.2 and
3.3)
2. No provision having been made in the Implementing Regulations
pursuant to Article 133(3) EPC, last sentence, the EPC does not
currently allow the representation of one legal person by the
employee of another economically related legal person. (See
reasons, point 4)
3. Save in the limited situation of a transfer of the right to
oppose a European patent (or to appeal or continue an opposition
appeal) together with the related business assets of the
opponent's business, a commercial interest in revocation of such
patent is not a requirement for being an opponent. Nor is
possession of such a commercial interest sufficient to allow a
successor in business to take over and conduct opposition or
opposition appeal proceedings in the absence of evidence of a
transfer of the right to do so together with the related
business assets of the opponent. (See reasons, point 12.2)
4. (a) In the absence of such evidence, the transfer of an
opponent's business assets to two separate persons cannot give
either of them the right to take over and conduct opposition or
opposition appeal proceedings. (See reasons, point 7.6)
(b) When such evidence is present, only the transferee
established by such evidence can acquire such a right. (See
reasons, point 7.6)
