Other ways of challenging patents
You might find yourself having to challenge other people's patents or perhaps find yourself in a dispute over your patent. Some of the most common disputes about patents are about ownership, licences and other technical issues.
Ownership
- Entitlement - disputes about who owns a patent or is entitled to own a patent
- Inventorship - disputes about adding or removing the names of an inventor
- Compensation - applications from employees who want compensation
- Joint applicant disputes - disputes between joint applicants about how a patent application in their names will go ahead
Technical issues
- Revocation - application to have a patent cancelled
- Amendment of patents - an opposition by another person to an application by the owner of the patent to amend it
- Declarations of non-infringement - applications asking for confirmation that a certain activity does not or would not 'infringe' a particular patent
- Infringement
Licences
- Applications to decide on the terms of licences which can be given under a patent - where the owner of the patent and the person who wants a licence cannot agree terms
- Applications for a compulsory licence under a patent - requests that the patent owner be forced to grant a licence
