While we have previously compared and contrasted European Patent Office (EPO) oppositions with the new US post grant challenges (http://www.aiablog.com/global-harmonization/ipr-and-pgr-they-are-not-american-oppositions/), what has not been looked at as closely is the respective timings of different stages in the proceedings. The Post Grant Review (PGR) strikes the most similarities with the EPO opposition timeline as these have to be filed within 9 months of the patent granting. The Inter Party Review (IPR) and PGR take up to 18 months for the final written decision to be issued. While traditionally the EPO has 18 to 30 month turnaround time, more and more we are seeing cases resolved with the oral decision being issued within a 15 to 24 month timeline, hence not too dissimilar to the US procedures.
