Request
A request for limitation or revocation can only be filed by the proprietor(s) of the patent. The request may be filed at any time throughout the entire term of the European patent. According to the Guidelines, the request can even be filed after expiry of the patent.
However, the request may not be filed while opposition proceedings are pending. Precedence, i.e. priority, is always given to opposition proceedings. This prevents limitation from occurring where an opposition has already been lodged. If, at the time of filing a request for limitation or revocation, opposition proceedings are pending, the request "shall be deemed not to have been filed (see section "Special cases" - below - for the case, "likely to be infrequent in practice", where an opposition is filed "following the valid lodging of a request for limitation or revocation" ).
The request must be filed with the EPO and the procedure is subject to the payment of a fee. The amount of the fee is 1000 euros for a request for limitation and 450 Euros for a request for revocation. The fee is due on the date that the request is filed. A reduction of the fee is allowed if the request is filed in an "admissible non-EPO language" as well as in an EPO official language in translation.
Read more about this topic: Limitation And Revocation Procedures Before The European Patent Office
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