of the patent extends beyond the content of the application as filed –"or, if the patent was granted on a divisional application or on a new application filed under , beyond the content of the earlier application as filed"– (Article 100(c) EPC). For example, an opposition cannot be validly based on the grounds that the invention lacks unity (), that the claims are not clear (), or that the right to the European patent does not belong to the proprietor of the patent (). Filing and admissibility Before starting the substantive examination of the opposition, the Opposition Division examines whether the opposition must be considered as filed ("Is there an opposition?") and whether it is admissible ("Is the opposition admissible?"). The Opposition Division may find that the opposition is not deemed to have been filed, for instance because the opposition fee has not been paid within the nine-month opposition period, because the notice of opposition is not signed, or because the notice is not in an accepted language. In order for an opposition to be admissible it must meet the provisions of , i.e. a notice of opposition must be filed by a natural or legal person within nine months from the publication of the mention of grant of the European patent in the European Patent Bulletin (the start of the nine-month opposition period depends on the publication of the mention of grant of the European patent in the European Patent Bulletin, not on the publication of the specification of the European patent), and , i.e. the notice of opposition must contain a statement of the extent to which the European patent is opposed and of the grounds on which the opposition is based, as well as an indication of the facts and evidence presented in support of these grounds. In addition, an opposition is also rejected as inadmissible if it fails to meet the requirements of after the opponent was invited to remedy to these failures within a given time limit. If the opposition is not admissible, the opposition is rejected under . Inadmissible oppositions and oppositions which are deemed not to have been filed are not substantively examined (no examination on the merits). An opposition can only be rejected as inadmissible if the opposition has been first deemed to have been filed, and, if it is deemed to have been filed, the opposition exists, even if later the