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The General Court set out the facts giving rise to the dispute as follows: ‘5 On 5 September 1996, the intervener, Mr Jørn Hansson applied to the [CPVO] for a Community plant variety right pursuant to [Regulation No 2100/94]. That application was registered under number 1996/0984. The plant variety for which protection was thereby sought is the variety LEMON SYMPHONY, belonging to the species Osteospermum ecklonis. ... 7 The CPVO directed the Bundessortenamt (German Federal Plant Variety Office) to conduct the technical examination of LEMON SYMPHONY pursuant to Article 55(1) of [Regulation No 2100/94]. 8 By letter of 6 November 1996, the Bundessortenamt requested the CPVO to provide it with LEMON SYMPHONY plant material to enable it to conduct the technical examination. That letter specified that that material should consist of “20 young plants of marketable quality, neither trimmed nor treated with growth regulators”. 9 The intervener sent the plant material requested to the Bundessortenamt on 10 January 1997. 10 By letter of 13 January 1997, signed by Ms Menne, the agent of the Bundessortenamt responsible for the technical examination of LEMON SYMPHONY, the Bundessortenamt informed the CPVO as follows: “... we hereby inform you that the propagating material of the variety referred to in the subject heading which was sent to us consists of plants in bud intended for sale which have been treated with growth regulators and trimmed. Therefore, there is a risk that the technical examination will not progress satisfactorily.” 11 The technical examination was nevertheless subsequently carried out at some point in 1997, although the Bundessortenamt is not yet in a position to confirm whether it was conducted directly on the plant material sent by the intervener or on cuttings obtained from that material, as appears to be indicated by a handwritten note dated 30 January 1997 in the file, which states: “The Bundessortenamt has taken cuttings, wait, TK 30/01/97”. In that technical examination, which was carried out on the basis of the Bundessortenamt’s “Table of Characteristics VI” of 8 August 1997, applicable at that time as the test guidelines, LEMON SYMPHONY was compared to a number of other Osteospermum varieties. At the end of that technical examination, the Bundessortenamt concluded that LEMON SYMPHONY fulfilled the DUS criteria necessary for entitlement to a Community plant variety right. 12 On 16 October 1997, on the basis of the same “Table of Characteristics VI”, the Bundessortenamt drafted an examination report to which the official description of LEMON SYMPHONY was attached as an annex. This shows that the characteristic “Attitude of shoots” was expressed as “erect” (score of 1). 13 By a decision of the CPVO of 6 April 1999, a Community plant variety right was granted for LEMON SYMPHONY and the official description of that variety was compiled by the Bundessortenamt in 1997 and reproduced in the Register of Community Plant Variety Rights. 14 On 26 November 2001, the [appellant] … applied to the CPVO for a Community plant variety right pursuant to [Regulation No 2100/94]. That application was registered under number 2001/1758. The plant variety for which the right was thereby sought was the variety SUMOST 01, belonging to the species Osteospermum ecklonis. … 15 Being of the view that the sale of SUMOST 01 infringed the rights which he possesses over LEMON SYMPHONY, the intervener brought an action for infringement … before the German civil courts, seeking an order requiring [the cessation of the marketing of] SUMOST 01 plus damages. After having ordered a court expert’s report from the Bundessortenamt, which concluded, after a “comparative growing trial”, that SUMOST 01 could not be clearly distinguished from LEMON SYMPHONY, the Landgericht Düsseldorf (Düsseldorf Regional Court, Germany) granted those requests by a decision of 12 July 2005, confirmed on appeal by a judgment of the Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf (Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court, Germany) of 21 December 2006. During the compilation of that court expert’s report, [it was] submitted that the LEMON SYMPHONY plant material used in order to make the comparison did not match the plant material examined in 1997, for the purposes of the grant to that variety of the Community plant variety right. ... 16 During the infringement proceedings before the German civil courts, the intervener advanced the contention that LEMON SYMPHONY had never been an erect variety. He produced, in this connection, an expert report of 21 November 2003 … In that report, the expert stated: “The Bundessortenamt’s 1997 examination defines LEMON SYMPHONY as an erect variety. According to the experience acquired and observations gathered in tests, assessments and growing trials conducted over the last few years, LEMON SYMPHONY is not a variety which grows in a completely erect way. … The NAIROBI variety, included as a comparison with regard to its erect growth in the table of characteristics in the TG/176/3 examination guidelines, grows in an erect manner throughout its growing period. The attitude of NAIROBI differs markedly from that of LEMON SYMPHONY. Generally speaking, some subsequent descriptions of varieties drawn up by the Bundessortenamt, for example the SEIMORA variety, describe other SYMPHONY varieties with the same growing characteristics as LEMON SYMPHONY as semi-erect.” 17 While the infringement proceedings before the German civil courts were in progress, the CPVO directed the Bundessortenamt to carry out a technical examination of SUMOST 01 in accordance with Article 55(1) of [Regulation No 2100/94]. In that technical examination, carried out from 2001, LEMON SYMPHONY, among other plants, was used as a comparison variety. That technical examination was carried out under the new TG/176/3 guidelines for the performance of the distinctness, uniformity and stability test, laid down on 5 April 2000 by the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV). ... 20 On 7 October 2004, the Bundessortenamt ... concluded that [SUMOST 01] was not clearly distinguishable from the other widely-known varieties, inter alia LEMON SYMPHONY. 21 On 26 October 2004, the [appellant] filed an application for cancellation of the Community plant variety right granted to LEMON SYMPHONY, pursuant to Article 21 of [Regulation No 2100/94] … on the ground that, since 2002 at least, that variety no longer corresponded to its official description entered in 1997 in the Register of Community Plant Variety Rights. In support of his application he submitted, essentially, that, in the examination of LEMON SYMPHONY carried out in 2001 on the basis of the TG/176/3 test guidelines, applicable since 2001, various characteristics of that variety had received different scores in comparison with the official description of that same variety dating from 1997. That demonstrated, he submitted, that the variety at issue lacked stability. 22 On 7 December 2004, the CPVO decided to carry out a technical verification in accordance with Article 64 of [Regulation No 2100/94], in order to check whether LEMON SYMPHONY continued to exist in the same form. The [appellant] and the intervener were informed of that decision on 15 December 2004. The guidelines applied for the purposes of the technical examination were those of the protocol for the distinctness, uniformity and stability test CPVO-TP/176/1, laid down on 31 October 2002 by the CPVO and itself based on the TG/176/3 test guidelines. 23 It is apparent from a letter of 5 January 2005 from the Bundessortenamt to the CPVO that, in general, various factors could be behind the variations noted in the description of the expressions of the characteristics, such as variations linked to environmental factors, a change in the scale of scores in the event of a significant change in the number of comparison varieties to be taken into consideration and changes in the scores due to the application of new test guidelines. … ... 25 On 14 September 2005, the Bundessortenamt compiled an examination report concluding that LEMON SYMPHONY should be retained. A new description of the variety, dated the same day, was attached as an annex to that report, from which it is apparent, inter alia, that the characteristic “Attitude of shoots” was expressed as “semi-erect to horizontal” (score of 4). ... 28 By e-mail of 18 May 2006, the Bundessortenamt stated as follows to the OCVV: “Please find attached the photographs of LEMON SYMPHONY taken in 1997, 2003 and 2004. You can see that the attitude of the shoots has not changed. ...” 29 By letter of 12 June 2006, the CPVO again wrote to the Bundessortenamt as follows: “In order to allow the [CPVO] to establish that link, we would be grateful if you could indicate, in respect of each characteristic [referred to in] the protocol on Osteospermum in force in 1997, what the level of expression of the variety LEMON SYMPHONY in the 2005 trial would be or what the relationship is between the observations made in accordance with the protocol adopted in 2001.” ... 31 It is apparent from the Bundessortenamt’s answer of 2 August 2006 and from the comparison of the results of the technical examinations of LEMON SYMPHONY carried out in 1997 and 2005 respectively, compiled by that office and sent to the [appellant] on 25 August 2006, that, according to that office, the difference in the score for the characteristic “Attitude of shoots” could be explained by the fact that there was no comparison variety in the “Table of Characteristics VI” used by [the CPVO] in 1997 and that LEMON SYMPHONY was the most erect variety during that year. Moreover, there had been a significant increase in the number of Osteospermum ecklonis species varieties since 1997 and the test guidelines had been partially amended, requiring the levels of expression to be adapted. 32 By letter of 25 August 2006, the CPVO proposed to the intervener to adapt the official description of LEMON SYMPHONY entered in 1997 in the Register of Community Plant Variety Rights to the new description of the variety of 14 September 2005. The CPVO took the view that such an adaptation was necessary on account, first, of the progress made in plant breeding since the examination of that variety in 1997 and, second, of the amendment of the test guidelines in 2001. 33 The intervener accepted that proposal by letter of 22 September 2006. 34 By decision of 19 February 2007 (“the refusal decision”), the CPVO upheld the objections raised by the intervener against the grant of a Community plant variety right to SUMOST 01 and refused the application for a Community plant variety right for that variety, essentially on the ground that that variety was not clearly distinguishable from LEMON SYMPHONY and that the conditions set out in Article 7 of [Regulation No 2100/94] had therefore not been met. ... 35 On 11 April 2007, the [appellant] filed an application for annulment, pursuant to Article 20 of [Regulation No 2100/94], of the Community plant variety right granted to LEMON SYMPHONY, essentially on the ground that that variety had never existed in the form reproduced in the official description entered in the Register of Community Plant Variety Rights in 1997. 36 By letter of 18 April 2007, the CPVO informed the intervener of its decision to adapt, of its own motion, the official description of LEMON SYMPHONY, in accordance with Article 87(4) of [Regulation No 2100/94] (“the decision on the adaptation of the description”). The adapted description as it followed from the 2005 technical examination was enclosed with that letter. 37 By letter of 10 May 2007 (“the decision on the application for cancellation”), the CPVO informed the [appellant] that the competent committee had verified whether the conditions for the application of Article 21 of [Regulation No 2100/94] were met and had reached the decision that that was not the case. ... … 39 On 21 May 2007, the CPVO informed the [appellant] of the decision on the adaptation of the description and the replacement of the official description of LEMON SYMPHONY entered in the Register of Community Plant Variety Rights in 1997 by that of 2005. 40 By letter of 26 September 2007, the CPVO rejected the application for annulment of the Community plant variety right granted to LEMON SYMPHONY filed by the [appellant] under Article 20 of [Regulation No 2100/94] (“the decision on the application for annulment”). ... Proceedings before the Board of Appeal of the CPVO in Cases A 005/2007, A 006/2007 and A 007/2007 41 On 10 May 2007, the [appellant] brought an appeal before the Board of Appeal of the CPVO [the Board of Appeal], registered under number A 005/2007, against the refusal. ... 43 On 11 June 2007, the [appellant] brought an appeal before the Board of Appeal, registered under number A 006/2007, against the decision on the application for cancellation. ... 45 On 12 July 2007, the [appellant] brought an appeal before the Board of Appeal, registered under number A 007/2007, against the decision on the adaptation of the description. ... 63 Despite the [appellant]’s objections, the Board of Appeal held the oral proceedings in each of the three cases A 005/2007, A 006/2007 and A 007/2007 on 4 December 2007, in the absence of the [appellant], as the minutes of the hearing show. ... 64 During those proceedings, Ms Menne attended as an expert of the Bundessortenamt and agent of the CPVO. She stated, inter alia, that the LEMON SYMPHONY plant material submitted for the technical examination in 1997 had undoubtedly been treated with growth regulators, but that nevertheless no problems had arisen in that examination “because the plants grew completely normally”. She also pointed out that, at the time of that technical examination, “the effect of the growth regulators had worn off” and asserted that “in the case of LEMON SYMPHONY, there [was] no uncertainty as to the quality of the trials carried out in July/August 1997”. The intervener, for his part, contended that “growth regulators in general act for only four to six weeks”, in particular in the case of Osteospermum. 65 By decision of 4 December 2007 (Case A 006/2007), the Board of Appeal dismissed as admissible, but unfounded, the appeal brought by the [appellant] against the decision on the application for revocation. 66 By decision of 4 December 2007 (Case A 005/2007), the Board of Appeal dismissed as admissible, but unfounded, the appeal brought by the [appellant] against the refusal decision. 67 By decision of 4 December 2007 (Case A 007/2007), the Board of Appeal dismissed as inadmissible the appeal brought by the [appellant] against the decision on the adaptation of the description. 68 In each of those three cases, the Board of Appeal first of all found that the summons to the oral proceedings had been sent in accordance with the proper procedure. It observed, in this respect, that, although it was true that the one-month notice period set in Article 59(1) of [Regulation No 874/2009] had not been observed, the summons not having been notified to the [appellant] until 6 November 2007, that was of no consequence ... ... Proceedings before the Board of Appeal of the CPVO in Case A 010/2007 71 On 19 October 2007, the [appellant] brought an appeal before the Board of Appeal, registered under number A 010/2007, against the decision on the application for annulment. 72 In support of that appeal, the [appellant] submitted, essentially, that the plant material on which the LEMON SYMPHONY technical examination had been carried out in 1997 was defective. He also raised the possibility that cuttings had been taken from the plants sent and that those cuttings were then used in the technical examination. … He also pointed out that the varieties referred to by way of example in the test guidelines applied from 2001 had, with the exception of the variety NAIROBI, all been compared with LEMON SYMPHONY in 1997. Having regard to the statements made by Ms Menne and the intervener at the hearing on 4 December 2007 in Cases A 005/2007, A 006/2007 and A 007/2007, the [appellant] offered to prove, by means of an expert opinion, his claim that the repercussions of treatment with growth regulators on the examination were not limited to a duration of four to six weeks. Lastly, the [appellant] explained that his application for annulment was founded on the combined provisions of Article 20(1)(a) and Article 7 of [Regulation No 2100/94]. He submitted that, given that a variety cannot be regarded as distinct unless it is distinguishable by reference to the expression of the characteristics which result from a particular genotype or combination of genotypes, no distinction can be made where the expression of the characteristics found results from mechanical treatment and treatment with growth regulators. 73 After having been summoned to the hearing, the [appellant] objected, in a supplementary pleading of 12 January 2009, to Ms Menne’s taking part in that hearing and to her statements being taken into account. 74 The [appellant] also repeated his offer to prove, by means of an expert opinion, that the results of the DUS examination of LEMON SYMPHONY carried out in 1997 were not explained by the genotype, but by the chemical and mechanical treatment or the fact that cuttings of the plants sent had been used. Moreover, the [appellant] expressly requested to be able to submit the proposed evidence. ... 76 By [the decision at issue], the Board of Appeal dismissed as admissible, but unfounded, the appeal brought by the [appellant] against the decision on the application for annulment …’