Oppose or defend yourself

Sometimes there is reason to protest against a patent. Or defend your own patent against attack.

During the patent application process and up until and including the opposition procedure, certain situations can be settled already with us. If someone questions the validity of your granted patent or if someone plagiarizes your invention, it can be necessary to resolve the dispute in a general court. The best situation is, of course, if you can solve the problem yourselves, for example, through a licence agreement.

It can be costly and difficult to maintain your rights, particularly if your opponent has substantial financial resources. Nowadays there are different insurance policies for intellectual property disputes. An insurance policy can help you with legal costs in a patent dispute and, in that way, make you more equal to your opponent.

You should make enquiries with different insurance companies, patent agents and innovation actors to get advice. Remember that it can be good to have a confidentiality agreement if you need to disclose non-public information.

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The Patents Act, in Swedish (external website)

Insurance and confidentiality

It can be costly and difficult to maintain your rights, particularly if your opponent has substantial financial resources.

Appeal

An appeal must be addressed to the Patent and Market Court, but sent to PRV's address. Describe why you think the decision is wrong. Attach any amended patent claims.

Disputes over ownership

If you believe that someone has applied for a patent for an invention which you have ownership rights to, you can submit a claim of “better rights to the invention” to PRV.

Objection

Anyone can submit an objection to someone else's invention during the handling process.

Opposition

Anyone can oppose to a granted and published patent for nine months.

Patent infringement

Infringing someone else's patent may be a crime that can lead to prosecution.

Annulment

A patent can still be declared invalid after the opposition period has expired.

The Swedish Patent and Registration Office