Obvious ¶
In order to be patentable, an invention must not be "obvious" to a "person having ordinary skill in the art to which the invention pertains".
Opposition ¶
Challenging the scope of a granted patent in courts based on additional prior art generally not found during the prosecution of the patent application. In Europe, there is a 9month period after a patent has been granted, during which the scope of the claims of the patent may be challenged in the Board of Appeals. For Germany, the opposition period is 3 months after grant.
Opposition Search ¶
A search for any document or product described in the claims of a patent in question, prior to its filing date. An opposition search should look at two main aspects: 1- Novelty: single document or product disclosing the exact same thing as the claims in the patent in question. It may have more aspects than the invention, but should contain all the elements of the invention. 2- Inventive step: combinations of documents which, together, cover all the elements claimed in the claims of the invention or render the claims of the invention obvious.