Similar to the EPO Notice on acceleration of Oppositions at the end of last year, the Boards of Appeal have now also confirmed they may accelerate Appeal proceedings if there are parallel infringement or revocation proceedings before the Unified Patent Court (UPC) or a national court or competent authority of an EPC contracting state.
As a rule, the Boards of Appeal will accelerate Appeal proceedings upon request by the UPC or a national court or competent authority of the parallel action. No reasoning is required for such a request. Otherwise, a party to the parallel proceedings may request accelerated processing, but the party must cite its reasoning, and the Board of Appeal will take a discretionary decision on whether to accelerate. It is also possible for the Boards to accelerate at their own discretion, in particular if they become aware of a parallel action.
The Boards of Appeal Notice on this change can be viewed here
