Apart from only having a limited duration of twenty (20) years, maintained through payment of annual fees, the holder may lose its patent if:

• The invention is not patentable;
• Fails to meet one or more of the conditions for patentability : novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability;
• Lack of disclosure or explanation of the invention that does not allow being executed by a person skilled in the art;
• Claim is ambiguous, vague and not fully supported by the description. (claims are technical definitions of the invention that delimit the extent of its protection);
• Excessive disclosure in the granted patent compared to the submitted application;
• Patent granted to a not entitled person
• After two (2) years of compulsory license caused by lack of exploitation of the patent or anticompetitive practices and when the circumstances under which they were granted persist;
• The need arises to protect public health, human, animal or plant life or the environment; or
• The applicant has given false information to obtain the patent.

The invalidity may be for the entire patent or just some portion. Moreover, this process may be initiated as a defense against the infringement of the same patent.

Versión en español | Spanish version