Learn about patents from the EPO (Part 20)

The opposition applicant filed an opposition request against the European patent EP-B 9 months after the grant announcement. The opposition fee was paid on time, and all information about the applicant, the litigation patent, the opponent and its legal representative was included.

The grounds for objection to all claims of EP-B are lack of novelty and inventive step and lack of clarity of the claims. The applicant states that the claims lack novelty and inventive step compared to prior art documents A1, A2 and A3 and will provide a detailed analysis of the prior art at a later stage.

Which statement is correct?

• a. Objections are acceptable. All grounds for objection will be considered.
• b. The Opposition Division of the EPO will consider lack of novelty and inventive step, but will not consider lack of clarity.
• c. Dissenting opinions will not be accepted.