Several rules of the German Patent Act with regard to oppositions have recently been amended. In order to reduce the backlog of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (GPTO) in opposition cases, transitional rules were implemented in 2002 that oppositions against German patents filed up to July 2006 have to be handled by the Federal Patent Court instead of by the GPTO. These rules have now been cancelled, so that all oppositions filed from July 1 2006 will again be handled in the first instance by the GPTO.