EP 05791238.8 numaralı patent İtiraz Birimi tarafından değiştirilmeden muhafaza edilmiştir. Patent sahibinin ana talebindeki ana istem şu şekildedir:
“A process for producing plural panel automotive members having inner and outer panels connected to form said members, said inner panels having threaded fasteners securely crimped to said inner panels to provide means for bolting accessories to said automotive member, said inner panel formed by the process consisting of:
a.) providing a molten aluminum alloy consisting of:
2.7 to 3.3 wt.% Mg,
0.1 to 0.35 wt.% Mn,
0.02 to 0.2 wt.% Si,
0.1 to 0.25 wt.% Fe,
0.1 wt.% max. Cu,
0.25 wt.% max. Cr,
0.2 wt.% max. Zn,
0.15 wt.% max. Ti,
the remainder aluminum and impurities;
b.) providing a continuous caster for continuously casting said molten aluminum alloy;
c.) casting said molten aluminum alloy into a slab having Al-Fe, Al-Fe-Mn or Mg2Si intermetallic particles;
d.) hot rolling said slab into a sheet product;
e.) annealing said sheet product to an O-temper condition, said sheet having substantially uniform distribution or minimized striations of said intermetallic particles;
f.) forming a portion of said sheet product in said O-temper into said inner panels by stamping to provide inner panels having raised portions and recessed portions to provide stiffeners to said inner panels;
g.) crimping at least one threaded fastener to said inner panel;
h.) providing an outer panel for joining to said inner panel; and
i.) connecting said outer panel to said inner panels to provide said plural panel automotive member having threaded fasteners joined thereto.”
İtiraz prosedürü sırasında tarifnamenin tescil edilen isteme göre değiştirilerek adapte edilmesinin tarifnamenin orijinal kapsamını aştığı iddiası tartışma konusu yapılmıştır. Tarifnamede yapılan değişiklikler aşağıda yer almaktadır:
“The slab is hot rolled into a sheet product, which is then annealed to an O-temper condition, [deleted: to provide a] the sheet [deleted: product] having [deleted: a] substantially uniform distribution or [deleted: less] minimized striations of the intermetallic particles [deleted: for improved formability]”.
Burada yapılan değişiklikler orijinal olarak tescil edilen isteme dayandığından ve istemin değiştirilen tarifnameden hareketle yorumlanması halinde yorum değişikliğinin vuku bulmayacağı öngörüldüğünden kapsam aşımı tartışması patent sahibinin lehine olarak değerlendirilmiştir.