□ □ □ □ □
[□] □ □ □ □
□? □ □ □ □
Subject to the final sentence of this paragraph , the designation of a Contracting State may be withdrawn by the applicant at any time up to the grant of the patent . In addition , U.S. biotechnology firms suffer from a lack of adequate protection for their intellectual property , due to an onerous patent system that allows competitors to stall the grant of patent rights through open-ended , pre-grant opposition proceedings , as well as the lack of data exclusivity . The Board first held that the claims were in compliance with the requirements of Article 53 ( a ) EPC , which prohibits the grant of patents in respect of inventions contrary to ordre public or morality . Japanese Patent Law provides arbitration proceedings to grant compulsory licenses on ( 1 ) dependent inventions ( riyou hatsumei ) the exploitation of which invention infringes other parties ' patents or design registration ; 9 ; ( 2 ) inventions which has not exploited continuously for three years from the grant of the patent in Japan ; 10 and ( 3 ) inventions the exploitation of which are required for the interests of public.11 Although the arbitration was seldom used to request a license , this provision has been criticized by U.S. industry to give patentees pressure to grant a license since Japanese companies can always resort to the compulsory license provisions once the negotiation break up .