Patent Opposition System

Opposition Procedures 异议程序
Opposing Party对方当事人 JPO (Board Examiners委员会审查员) Patentee专利权人


-The opposing party can file an invalidation trial on the same grounds using the same facts, if they have an interest (no estoppel).
对方当事人不能基于同样的理由使用同一事实申请无效审判，若其有意（禁止反悔）。

Advice for Patentees对专利权人的建议
To end the opposition period earlier, the issue fee should be quickly paid after the allowance.
Wait to send warning letters until after the opposition period passes.
为了防止无效，应当尽早支付发证费。等到异议期过后发送警告信。

Advice for Challenging Parties: Negative Consequences? 对提出异议方的建议：有负面后果吗？
Benefit of a Competitor’s Patent竞争对手的专利的益处
Competitors’ patents exclude other competitors. If there are many competitors, and a license can be obtained, then it may be preferable for a competitor’s patent to exist.
竞争对手的专利将其他竞争对手排除。如果存在许多竞争对手，并且能够获得许可，那么竞争对手的专利存活可能是更好的。

Lost Bargaining Chip失去谈判筹码
If a prior art reference invalidates a patent, then the patentee cannot exclude anyone or obtain any license fees. Therefore, un-submitted prior art references can be a negotiation tool for obtaining a license on more favorable terms, especially when there are many other competitors. By submitting the prior art references to the patent office, this bargaining power is lost.
如果现有技术文献将专利无效，则专利权人不能排除任何人或者获得任何许可费。因此，未提交的现有技术文献可以作为谈判工具来获得基于更优惠条件的许可，特别是还存在许多其他竞争对手时。将现有技术文献提交给专利局则会失去此谈判力量。

Red Flag for the Patent Owner or Applicant 对专利所有者或申请人的警示
An opposition or third party observation indicates that some competitor considers the patent or application important or dangerous. In response, the patent owner with a divisional application or the applicant can异议或第三方观察表明有竞争对手认为该专利或申请很重要或危险。作为回应，申请人或者有分案申请的专利所

有者能够:
1. Request accelerated examination and zealously prosecute the application,
　请求加快审查并积极参与申请，
2. Obtain divisional patents that cover different aspects of the invention,
　获得涵盖发明不同方面的分案专利，
3. Investigate competitors’ products, and amend the claims to cover the products, and
　调查竞争对手的产品，并且修改权项以涵盖该产品，
4. Keep a divisional application pending to preserve the ability to amend the claims.
　保持分案申请待审以保留修改权项的能力。

For the reasons above, we suggest opposing patents only when our client is likely the main target of the patent, and no divisional application is pending. Generally, we do not suggest third party observations. However, our suggestions depend on the specific business circumstances of each client.
基于以上理由，只有当我们的客户很可能是专利的主要目标并且不存在待审分案申请时，我们才会建议无效专利。通常，我们不建议第三方观察。不过，我们的建议取决于每个客户的具体业务情况。

What RYUKA Offers 龙华可以提供的
When you are in danger of being the main target, we will watch for new patents of specific parties, and report the same with a copy of the corresponding English application or a computer translation of the claims, together with the information of any divisional applications.
当您处于作为主要目标的危险中时，我们会监视特定方的新专利，并且将对应的英文申请副本或权项的计算机翻译以及任何分案申请的信息与之一并报告。

The “watch” can be limited by applicant, technical terms, international classification, and/or the JPO’s “F terms.” If you are interested in the watching service, then please let us know so that we can refine the “watch” before the opposition system starts.
“监视”能够通过申请人、技术术语、国际分类、和/或日本专利局的“F术语”进行限定。如果您对监视服务感兴趣，请与我们联系，这样我们能够在异议制度开始之前完善“监视”。