[Update 11/5/15 – it appears from the comments on DeltaPatents results blog post that non-appealing candidates have also benefitted from the decision.]
IPcopy has just learned that the EQE Examination Board has sent out what appears to be a response letter to candidates who appealed their pre-exam results based on questions 15.2 and/or 17.3, rectifying their ‘fail’ decisions to passes. The letter means that the Examination Board has effectively accepted both true and false as correct for these questions where the main point of contention was whether the prior art disclosed that cardboard comprises wood fibres. However, this is not explicitly stated in the letter and, at time of writing, the marking scheme has not been updated.
It is interesting to note that the appeals did not have to be passed to the Disciplinary Board of Appeal, unlike the appeals* based on question 10.4 of the 2014 pre-exam.
However, as far as this ipcopywriter is aware, those candidates who got questions 15.2 and/or 17.3 ‘wrong’ but did not file an appeal to their ‘fail’ decision would not benefit from this Examination Board outcome. This is because the fail decision of each candidate would need to be appealed, with the grounds of appeal regarding the erroneously marked question(s). Perhaps then the timing of these response letters just after the appeal deadline of 6 May 2015 (assuming 10 days notification) was intentional.
Congratulations to the successful appellants who have now passed!
Laurence Lai 7 May 2015
*D 0002/14, D 0003/14, D0004/14, D 0005/14 and D0006/14
IPcopy 