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Law360 (April 1, 2020, 4:18 PM EDT) -- The European Patent Office announced Wednesday that it is not holding any oral hearings at the appeals board through April, citing the COVID-19 pandemic.
A day after lowering the Italian and EPO flags at its sites to honor the lives lost to the novel coronavirus, the office said in a statement that it is limiting some of its judicial activities by holding off on all oral proceedings before the Boards of Appeal until April 30.
The appeals board will continue to issue written decisions, as well as summons and communications involving oral hearings — including informing those whose cases have been affected by the EPO's decision, it said.
"In view of the rapidly evolving situation with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), all parties to oral proceedings scheduled to take place before the EPO Boards of Appeal are advised to regularly check the web section of the Boards of Appeal for updated information on access to the premises of the Boards of Appeal in Haar," the office said.
The EPO added that the president of the Boards of Appeal will be assessing the current situation and "take appropriate measures as the situation evolves."
The latest decision comes as the EPO, along with its U.S. counterpart, have been grappling with how to continue agency operations in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has called off in-person hearings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board until further notice, the EPO initially decided to postpone hearings at the appeals board until after Friday, and then pushed the date back to April 17.
--Editing by Nicole Bleier.
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