G1/24 - Small, But Perfectly Formed?

The decision in G1/24 (Heated Aerosol) has now issued, and given the important principle of patent law involved, its brevity is impressive. At twelve pages in total including five pages of actual decision, this is among the shortest of the "short" Enlarged Board of Appeal decisions (in contrast to "long" decisions such as G1/19). "Short" decisions look to identify what question has to be answered and to provide as succinct an answer as possible, whereas "long" decisions look to tease out an answer to a complex question and often to give guidelines for applying the decision itself. G1/24 is the epitome of a "short" decision.

G1/24 is a reference from the opposition appeal T 0439/22, where the decision on novelty rested on interpretation of the term "gathered sheet" in claim 1. There was a usual meaning for this term in the art (vaping), and using this meaning, claim 1 was novel. However, the specification also included a broader definition of the term, under which