Grounds for invalidation

The court shall invalidate the patent in the following cases:

1. 1.The patent was issued for one of the matters set out in Article 4 of this Act;
2. 2.It is established that the substantive conditions of the invention did not exist at the time of filing of the application;
3. 3.Effective disclosure under Article 17 of this Act was not made;
4. 4.The patent was granted to a person who was not entitled to the grant of the patent;
5. 5.Four years have elapsed from the date of filing of the patent application or three years from the date of registration of the invention, whichever is longer, and the patent holder has, without a valid excuse, taken no effective step to make or use it in Iran;
6. 6.The scope of protection has been extended through an unjustified amendment of the patent.

Note 1 — As regards genetic and biological resources and components registrable within the framework of this Act, in addition to the said cases, the provision of false information regarding the geographic origin or place of deposit or manner of access to the genetic resource used, as well as failure to comply with the laws and rules relating to the manner of access to genetic resources, are grounds for invalidating the patent.

Note 2 — Any person may request the competent judicial authority to invalidate the patent or to invalidate a claim or part of the relevant claims. In the event of invalidation, its effect runs from the date of filing of the application, except for invalidation on the ground of paragraph 5 of this Article, in which case the effect of invalidation runs from the date of the final judgment.

Note 3 — As regards paragraph 6, the court shall order the invalidation only of that part of the patent that resulted from the unjustified amendment. In this case, the effect of invalidation runs from the date of the amendment.