Patent Opposition

Opposition to a patent is made by filing a Notice of Opposition within three months of the date on which the Patent Office advertised acceptance of the patent application. The opponent should serve a Statement of Grounds and Particulars on the patent applicant within three months of filing a Notice of Opposition. The statement is intended to give the applicant fair notice of the case to be met and to define the issues of the opposition. It is binding on the opponent and confines the opponent's case to the issues raised in the statement, unless consequently amended.

Pre-grant Opposition can be filed after the publication of a Patent application in the journal brought out the Patent office occasionally. The Patent opposition can be filed by any person in writing against the grant of a patent.The opposition must be filed at the appropriate office together with a statement and evidence in support of the opposition. Consequently, if the Controller of Patents decides that the application needs amendment or rejection, a notice would be sent to the applicant to which he must reply within a month. The applicant may also request for a hearing. The case is generally decided within a month on completion of the above proceedings.

Post grant Patent opposition can be filed by any person within 12 months from the date of publication of the grant of patent in the Patent office journal.The notice for Patent opposition is given in the prescribed form at the appropriate office along with a written statement setting out the nature of the opponent's interest, the facts upon which the opponent bases his case, the relief which the opponent seeks, and the evidences. A copy of the statement and evidences is to be provided to the patentee.