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Should I challenge a competitor patent?
Four routes, with different windows and different costs.
Post-grant opposition is available to a person interested.
It must be filed before twelve months from the date of publication of the grant - not from the date of grant itself. An Opposition Board of three examiners reports on the grounds.
- Check the publication date of the grant carefully; the twelve months runs from there.
- The procedure is fuller than pre-grant opposition and the evidence requirements are higher.
- You must be a person interested - a commercial interest in the field.
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This is educational guidance, not personalised legal advice. It cannot see your documents, your dates or the prior art, and those are usually what decide the answer. Use it to understand the question, then take advice on your own facts.
Not sure whether this applies to your invention?
The honest answer usually needs someone to look at your actual disclosure, your timeline and the prior art. That is a conversation, not an article.