YES – you can oppose a European patent while maintaining anonymity.
When a European patent is granted, there is a nine-month window during which it may be opposed to attempting to revoke the patent or to restrict its scope of protection. The patent can be opposed by any person (legal or natural), other than the original patent proprietor.
The Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBoA), the highest judicial authority under the European Patent Convention (EPC), issued its decision in case G4/19 (double patenting) on 22 June 2021, in which it held that a European patent application can be refused based on the prohibition on double patenting, i.e. if it claims the same subject-matter as a European patent which has been granted to the same applicant and does not form part of the state of the art pursuant to Article 54(2) and (3) EPC.
Today, on 1 June 2021, the fourth amendment to the Chinese patent law will enter into force. In addition to an overall strengthening of the patent system, as we reported previously, significant changes have been introduced that are relevant to the pharmaceutical field.
Here, we want to alert you to the introduction of a completely new patent term extension system in China for pharmaceutical products. The mechanism is strongly inspired on the Patent Term Extension (PTE) system in the US and the analogous Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs) in Europe, but there are significant differences as well.
As a response to the global Covid-19 pandemic, the European Patent Office has introduced the possibility of holding oral proceedings by videoconference. This applies not only to first instance proceedings (examination and opposition), but also to oral proceedings before the Boards of Appeal.
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