Observations by Third Party
Third Party Observations
If you consider that a published application is not patentable in any way, you can file third party observations at the IPOI. Under Section 30A of the Patents Act any person may make observations in writing to the Controller on the question of whether an invention is a patentable invention. Such observations may only be filed for applications that have been published (made open to public inspection) but have not yet been granted. These observations will then be considered by the Controller.
While filing third party observations is free of charge, they must be filed in writing and will be accepted either in paper or electronic format. Should your evidence files be quite large, please contact the IPOI at regadmin@ipoi.gov.ie for advice on using a ShareFile system.
Observations may be made anonymously. A copy of the observations will be sent to the patent applicant, so if you wish to remain anonymous, you should take care to ensure that the contents of your submission do not contain any references that might identify you, such as email addresses, job roles, technical expertise, etc.
While these observations will be made open to public inspection, you will not be informed of the progress of the application or the result of the Controller’s assessment of your observations, i.e. you will not become party to any proceedings concerning the application.
Third party observations should include certain criteria in order to facilitate efficient processing of the submission (such as a list of grounds and accompanying evidence for your observations). Please see the accompanying checklist that you should follow when submitting any observations.