EPO: Restricted Clarity Review for Category Changes in Opposition Proceedings

This decision specifies the permissible scope of the clarity examination in opposition proceedings following structural amendments to the claims. If a granted dependent claim is completely transferred into an independent claim of a different category (specifically, a method step into a method step performed by an apparatus), only those amendments may be examined for clarity under Article 84 EPC that result directly from this change of category. Other potential clarity deficiencies of the originally granted dependent claim are not subject to review by the Board of Appeal. (EPA-BK 04.12.2025, T 1096/23)