A tribunal of the European Patent Office (EPO) heard oral arguments in March of this year after formal objections to Honeywell’s HFO-1234YF patent were filed by Daikin Industries, Daimler AGE, ACEA, BMW AG, Mexichem, Solvay Fluor and others in November of 2009. The tribunal’s decision is as follows-
“The patent is revoked under Article 101(2) EPC as at least one of the grounds of oppositions prejudices its maintenance unamended, and under Article 101(3) (b) EPC because taking into account the amendments made by the proprietor during the opposition proceedings, the patent and the invention to which it relates do no meet the requirements of the EPC.”
(European Patent Convention)
Honeywell has filed a Notice of Appeal.