Opposition proceedings before the European Patent Office

After a patent application has been successfully granted before the European Patent Office, it is possible to attack granted European patents within nine months by filing an opposition before the European Patent Office. The opposition procedure is thus a powerful weapon to carry out a central attack on freshly granted European patents before the European patent disintegrates into national protection rights in the validating states, which can only be challenged at national level in national invalidation proceedings or nullity proceedings.

This brochure provides you with an overview of the European opposition procedure and the most relevant procedural specifics from the point of view of the patent proprietor and the opponent.

Content

• Introduction
• Formal Requirements
• Course of the Proceedings
• Costs
• Grounds for Opposition
• Defense Strategies of the Patentee
• Summary