New rules in the numbers game

In T1688/20, the Board of Appeal has taken a diverging approach to the novelty of a subrange in a patent claim. The Board eschewed the test set out in the current Guidelines for Examination and instead reverted to simply applying the "Gold Standard" test for novelty.

The result was a finding that the claimed subrange of 56°≤ and ≤59° was novel (and inventive) in view of the prior broader disclosure of 50°≤ and ≤60°. 

A more detailed look at this decision can be found here.