1 June 2015, 9 am
Workshop day arrives, for our second EPO oral proceedings course. A change of agenda means that this time I am supposed to be playing the role of an opposition division member rather than just swanning around stealing biscuits. I get away with it, luckily, because my co-star, the Amazing Gwilym Roberts, has accidentally read the papers beforehand, so all I have to do is take minutes and look disapproving from over the top of my glasses. After the mock hearings, we give the delegates feedback on their advocacy skills. Then they give us feedback on our course-organising skills. They are cross because we did not warn them how long it would take to prepare. They manage to make this sound like a substantial procedural violation. I am tempted to point out that if, like me, you have not read all the papers in advance, then you will not know what’s going on in the hearings, and whilst that is OK if your job is to be the course leader and look disapproving, it is not so good if you are a delegate and your job is to learn something from the experience. Still, if you came to the course thinking you could attend a hearing without adequate preparation, even a hearing of the mock type, then presumably you will have learnt something very important today. It is indeed sobering when your opponent brings out a piece of prior art, embellished with Post-It® notes and pink highlights, and you can’t remember having seen it before in your life.
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