1. Without opposition, issue of a decision to grant a European
patent normally constitutes a "cut-off" point for making
amendments to the application documents in the European
proceedings. If an opposition has been filed, "cut-off" effects
due to the grant of a patent may be seen in the restrictions
imposed on further amendments to the patent specification by
Rules 57a and 87 and Article 123(3) EPC.
2. Although Article 123(3) EPC only addresses the claims of the
European patent, amendments to the description and the drawings
may also extend the protection conferred in accordance with
Article 69(1) EPC.
3. If, in view of Articles 84 and 69 EPC, the application
documents have been adapted to amended claims before grant,
thereby deleting part of the subject-matter originally disclosed
in order to avoid inconsistencies in the patent specification,
as a rule subject-matter deleted for this reason can neither be
reinserted into the patent specification nor into the claims as
granted without infringing Article 123(3) EPC. An analogous
finding applies to subject-matter retained in the patent
specification during such adaptation for reasons of
comprehensibility, but indicated as not relating to the claimed
invention (see point 6. of the reasons).
