opatch apply fails with “Error in checking for identical patches for composite patch” error

ERROR:

Attempting to install a composite patch fails with the following message

[Nov 22, 2014 11:36:08 AM]   OUI-67073:UtilSession failed: Error in checking for identical patches for composite patch. This means a constituent to be applied has an earlier creation date than a constituent installed in the Oracle Home. This patch is improperly packaged and will not be applied.
[Nov 22, 2014 11:36:08 AM]   Finishing UtilSession at Sat Nov 22 11:36:08 EST 2014
[Nov 22, 2014 11:36:08 AM]   Log file location: /apps/opt/oracle/product/11.2.0/db_1/cfgtoollogs/opatch/opatch2014-11-22_11-35-53AM_1.log
[Nov 22, 2014 11:36:08 AM] 
[Nov 22, 2014 11:36:08 AM]   StackTrace: oracle.opatch.opatchutil.NApply.process(NApply.java:725)
[Nov 22, 2014 11:36:08 AM]   StackTrace: oracle.opatch.opatchutil.OUSession.napply(OUSession.java:1136)
[Nov 22, 2014 11:36:08 AM]   StackTrace: sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
[Nov 22, 2014 11:36:08 AM]   StackTrace: sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:39)
[Nov 22, 2014 11:36:08 AM]   StackTrace: sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25)
[Nov 22, 2014 11:36:08 AM]   StackTrace: java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:592)
[Nov 22, 2014 11:36:08 AM]   StackTrace: oracle.opatch.UtilSession.process(UtilSession.java:322)
[Nov 22, 2014 11:36:08 AM]   StackTrace: oracle.opatch.OPatchSession.main(OPatchSession.java:2346)
[Nov 22, 2014 11:36:08 AM]   StackTrace: oracle.opatch.OPatch.main(OPatch.java:613)

CAUSE:

The failure is because the downloaded patch is not for the platform on which it is being installed. For example, if the OS platform is Linux x86-64 and the downloaded patch is for Solaris SPARC, patching fails with the reported error rather than suggesting that the OS platform and the platform of the patch do not match.

SOLUTION:

Download the patch for the correct platform and install it by executing the following command

opatch apply