Earlier this year, the EPO announced a pilot scheme for
Opposition Division Oral Proceedings via videoconference. The pilot
scheme, however, required that the parties to the proceedings
agreed to the use of videoconference. This meant that parties could
delay proceedings by refusing to attend via videoconference and one
suspects that because of this, the EPO's backlog of opposition
cases has grown significantly since the beginning of 2020.
In an attempt to combat the backlog, the EPO has now announced
that the pilot scheme for videoconference Oral Proceedings at the
Opposition Divisions will be extended to 15 September 2021, and
that all in-person hearings will be postponed until after this
date. From 4 January 2021, all examination and opposition hearings
will therefore be held via videoconference and in-person hearings
will only take place in exceptional circumstances (see here).
