Glossary (V)

Validation

Patents are granted on a country-by-country basis. Patent validation is the final step in the grant procedure of a European patent. After a patent has been prosecuted and granted before the European Patent Office, the patent must then meet final national requirements in order to be effective in that country. This may include, for example, appointing a local patent attorney and/or providing a professional translation into an official language of the country. The requirements for validation depend on the country in which patent protection is being sought. European patent validation costs generally vary from between £600 to around £1600 (occasionally more) per country on a case by case basis and dependent on the country or countries of interest. Albright IP can provide very cost-effective patent validation for your European patent, so please do contact us for a free no-obligation discussion and quote.

Validity

The validity of a patent is when the novelty and inventive step of the invention is brought into question. Pre-grant in the UK, a 3rd party may question the validity of a published patent application by submitting Observations to UK IPO for example based on when the invention was publicly disclosed before the filing date. Post-grant, the validity can be put at issue in a number of situations, for example during revocation proceedings.