欧州特許庁の審判部からアニュアルレポート2021が出ました。
Despite the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Boards of Appeal settled 2938 cases with action, which represents a productivity increase of 11.1% over 2020. The number of pending cases was reduced by 13.9% to 7131 cases.
審判部は審理期間が長期化するので、そちらを注目してみようと思います。
まず、審判部は2023年までに90%の案件を受領後30ヶ月以内に審理を終結させることを目標としています(下記が目標です)。
With a view to reducing the backlog, the objective is to settle 90% of cases within 30 months of receipt and to reduce the number of pending cases to below 7 000 by 2023. The measures taken to achieve this objective are:
– increasing BoA productivity by 32% between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2020
– allocating additional resources for a limited period of time.
昨年どうだったか見ると、59か月と昨年も目標に届いていません。
EPO-AnnualReportBoA2021-ENG-ES-E11.pdf
審判部によると古い案件が期間延長されたことが影響のようです。
Since 2021 saw a significant decrease in overall stock and as mainly older cases were postponed, a significant improvement in the timeliness figure has not been achieved.
一方で、バックログの数はここ数年減少しているので、2022/23は審理期間の短縮がより望めるのではないかというコメントもされていました。
EPO-AnnualReportBoA2021-ENG-ES-E11.pdf
As at 31 December 2021, 2 579 backlog cases were pending, which is 15.2% fewer than at 31 December 2020. As the backlog consists of pending cases that are not settled within 30 months, the significant drop in the number of appeal cases received in 2020 has not yet had an impact on the total backlog. Appeals filed in 2020 will start reaching backlog status during 2022. As a result, a more significant drop in the number of backlog cases is expected in 2022/2023.
ドイツの差止めのしやすさと相まって近年グローバル訴訟での欧州の重要性は上がっています。審理の質は何より重要ですが、審理期間が長いことも問題を引き起こすので、こちらの改善も進むとよいですね。
