Revocation

The cancellation of a granted patent (or part thereof) resulting in the patent being treated as if it (or part of it) had never been granted. Revocation of a patent can be sought through Invalidity Proceedings or, in the case of a recently granted European Patent, through Opposition. In particular, a patent will be revoked (either fully or partially) where it can be demonstrated that one or more of the claims do not meet the requirements for patentability (e.g. they lack novelty or inventive step), that the specification does not sufficiently disclose the invention, or that the specification was amended during prosecution to introduce subject-matter that was not present in the application when it was originally filed. A patent can also be revoked as a result of entitlement proceedings.