Intellectual Property Insights National Patent Litigation in Europe and the Interface With EPO Oppositions

摘要

EPO oppositions are a very powerful way of litigating patents. In reality these are pan-European proceedings for revocation, despite being misleadingly called "oppositions". EPO oppositions are currently the closest existing process in Europe to a single European patent court action. The strategic significance of an EPO opposition is profound. It is potentially the only way in which all the equivalent national parts of a European patent can be revoked simultaneously through one set of proceedings.