If for once the French want to speak English...

... the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) does not allow them to. On 16 February, the EBA announced its decision in the case G 04/08 (language of the proceedings). The facts were as follows: the applicant Merial had filed an international application in French, which was published in French, and for which the EPO was the designated Office. Upon entry into the regional phase before the EPO, the applicant attached an English translation of the application to the request and asked that the language of the proceedings before the EPO be English.

The EBO decided that it is not possible to file a translation of the application into another one of the EPC's official languages upon entry into the regional phase before the EPO if an international application has been published in one of the EPC's official languages.

The EPO could also not - upon request of the applicant and after consultation with other interested parties - change by itself the language of the proceedings to another official language than the one the international application had been published in (art. 14(3) EPC). Rule 3(1), which had allowed this, had been deleted in 1991 and could not be re-introduced through case-law.