EUROPEAN PATENT CONVENTION 1973 - Table of Contents CONVENTION PART I - GENERAL AND INSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS Chapter III - The European Patent Office Article 23 - Independence of the members of the Boards

Article 23 17 Independence of the members of the Boards

R. 11

(1) The members of the Enlarged Board of Appeal and of the Boards of Appeal shall be appointed for a term of five years and may not be removed from office during this term, except if there are serious grounds for such removal and if the Administrative Council, on a proposal from the Enlarged Board of Appeal, takes a decision to this effect.

(2) The members of the Boards may not be members of the Receiving Section, Examining Divisions, Opposition Divisions or of the Legal Division.

(3) In their decisions the members of the Boards shall not be bound by any instructions and shall comply only with the provisions of this Convention.

(4)18 The Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal and the Enlarged Board of Appeal shall be adopted in accordance with the provisions of the Implementing Regulations. They shall be subject to the approval of the Administrative Council.

17 See decisions of the Enlarged Board of Appeal G 6/95, G 1/97, G 2/02 and G 3/02 (Annex I).

18 See the Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal as of 01.01.2005 (OJ EPO 2003, 89 ff and OJ EPO 2004, 541) and the Rules of Procedure of the Enlarged Board of Appeal as of 01.05.2003 (OJ EPO 2003, 83 ff).