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Opposition Procedure Before The European Patent OfficeThe opposition procedure before the European Patent Office (EPO) is a post-grant inter partes procedure intended to allow any European patent to be centrally opposed if it was wrongly granted. Basically European patents granted by the EPO under the European Patent Convention (EPC) can be opposed by any person from the public. This happens often when some prior art was not found during the grant procedure, but was only known by third parties. The opposition can only be based on grounds mentioned in Art. 100 of the Convention http://www.european-patent-office.org/legal/epc/e/ar100.html, i.e. on the grounds that the patent is not patentable, on the grounds that it is not sufficiently described to allow a person skilled in the art to carry out the invention, or on the grounds that the content of the patent as grant extends beyond the content of the patent application as filed. The notice of opposition must be filed in writing at the EPO (either at Munich, The Hague or Berlin) within 9 months of the date of grant of the European patent, along with the payment of an opposition fee. Opposition divisions of the EPO are then responsible for the opposition procedure. Issue and effects of the opposition After opposition, the patent can be either maintained as granted, maintained in an amended form or revoked. The opposition has an effect on all designated states in the European patent. Transfer of status opponent The opponent status cannot be freely transferred. As far as legal persons are concerned, the opposition can only be transferred with the assets belonging to a company. See also External links
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