Opposition
A transparent opposition procedure that provides legally valid decisions
The EPO's aim in its opposition procedure is to act with the utmost impartiality and deliver legally valid decisions on time. Each case is dealt with by an opposition division composed of three highly experienced examiners, who can be joined by a legal member when required.
Timely access to legal certainty
The average duration of a standard opposition action takes 20.5 months. We have now put in place a dedicated acceleration mechanism for opposition files for cases where we are informed of parallel national court or UPC proceedings (OJ EPO 2023, A99).
Figure: Opposition timeliness
User satisfaction survey
Overall satisfaction levels in the 2022/2023 survey (satisfactory and very satisfactory ratings) were 70% for the opposition procedure. High satisfaction levels were noted in the areas of "Fair treatment", with 79% stating that performance in this respect was very good or good. With regard to duration of the procedure, a 54% satisfaction rate was recorded.
Figure: User satisfaction survey results for the EPO opposition procedure
Arrows indicate statistically significant changes.
Source: BERENT, EPO
The results of the 2024/2025 USS will be published in Autumn 2025.