Patent Dispute Resolution Service

The UK Intellectual Property Office (formerly the Patent Office) offers a dispute resolution service which is aimed at preventing unnecessary litigation over patent disputes.

The new opinions service allows anyone to request an opinion on any UK patent, or European patent which designates the UK. The request can be made with regard to the validity or infringement of a patent. Once the request for an opinion is filed, there is a four-week period for anyone to make observations on the request, and for the requester and patentee to make observations in reply. If there are no observations, the request will be forwarded to the examiner. If observations are made, the request will be delayed for a further two weeks during which time further observations can be added.

The opinion will be written and issued by a senior patent examiner, who will consider the arguments set out in the request, as well as any observations filed.

The fee for obtaining an opinion on a patent is £200.