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USPTO: Beyond the Final Frontier (What happens after a Final Office Action)
The US patent prosecution process can become a bit confusing once the application reaches the “final” Office Action stage. The “final” nature of the Office Action (OA) means that the Examiner has rejected the claims at least two times. However, it is by no means the end of the process with after-final amendments, appeal and a request for continued examination often being on the cards.
The various options available to the applicant were the subject of a recent webinar that IPcopy attended and what follows is a summary of the webinar (any errors clearly being the work of the author of this post!). (more…)
UPC: Double patenting, Changes to Patents Act, Opt-out Register UI & Taskforce update
Christmas is nearly here and barring any end of the year UPC ratifications we’re not expecting too much to happen on the unitary patent and Unified Patent Court until next year. Before Christmas arrives however here’s a quick update: (more…)
EU Commission: unitary patent concerns; IP insurance and unitary SPCs
The European Commission website provides something of a byzantine navigational challenge so IPcopy is extremely grateful to Martin Chatel for pointing us in the direction of the Commission staff working document “A Single Market Strategy for Europe – Analysis and Evidence” which discusses the unitary patent package. (more…)
Alice in USPTOland
Following the Alice Corp v CLS Bank decision in June 2014 the USPTO’s position with respect to patent eligible subject matter has changed.
But having swallowed the red pill just how deep does the rabbit hole go? What is and what is not patent eligible subject matter in the US? (more…)
Patent Box Consultation: closing date for comments 4 December 2015
As previously reported on IPcopy, HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs are currently running a consultation on proposed changes to the UK Patent Box scheme. The consultation runs until this Friday (4 December 2015) and the consultation document, which includes some background on the existing Patent Box scheme, can be found here.
The main change proposed in the consultation is the use of R&D expenditure as a proxy for “substantial activities”. A so called “nexus fraction” will then be calculated in which a company’s own R&D expenditure on the IP in question plus any subcontracted R&D expenditure to an unrelated party (these figures together forming the “qualifying expenditure”) will be divided by the qualifying expenditure plus any R&D subcontracted to a related party plus acquisition costs.
Companies who have developed their own IP are likely to have a nexus fraction of close to “1” and so will essentially be unaffected by the revised rules. However, company’s which have acquired IP will see nexus fractions of <1 which will therefore reduce the income which qualifies for the new Patent Box.
Although the main change is the use of R&D expenditure as a proxy for substantial activities it is noted that the proposed changes will also have some other fairly noticeable effects, namely: (more…)
UPC Update (November 2015, part II): SPCs, US interest and UK Taskforce
In today’s update we highlight an article relating to Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs) and the UPC and an article that discusses the interest of US applicants for unitary patent protection. We also have the most recent update from the UK’s UPC Taskforce. (more…)
EPO Guidelines 2Day Roadshow – Review Part Part 3 – Added Matter
Our final post covering the EPO’s recent roadshow for professional representatives around Europe is on the subject of added matter. The first article in this series looked at the rule 164 procedure and the second article covered early processing, PCT Direct and rule 71(3).
European patent applications, of course, should disclose the invention in a sufficiently clear and complete manner that the invention can be carried out by a skilled person. Applications should not be amended such that they contain subject matter that extends beyond the content of the application as filed. Extended added matter is both a ground for opposition under Art 100(c) and revocation under Art 138(1) EPC.
The EPO representative at the roadshow confirmed the general approach the Examiners take when assessing whether an amendment represents added matter. The practice at first instance is: (more…)
Law in the Global Marketplace – Hogan Lovells Annual Patent Conference
Hogan Lovells demonstrated its global reach by holding its annual UK patent conference in London as a joint session with its “Law in the Global Marketplace” conference in California. A presentation on the current status of the UPC was made from London, an update on US patent legislation was made from California, and a transatlantic panel session followed (chaired from London by a German). The session was interesting, and featured a variety of views leading to an open discussion. Highlights follow below. (more…)
UPC Update: Rules of Procedure, IT user testing & UK threats provisions
UPC Update – Rules of Procedure
At the last meeting of the Preparatory Committee, the 18th draft of the Rules of Procedure of the Unified Patent Court was adopted.
This 18th draft will, subject to some modifications when the court fees have been decided, form the final version of the Rules of Procedure.
The 18th draft does not comprise too many substantive changes from the previous version (a handy comparison of the two versions can be seen here) but IPcopy notes the following changes: (more…)
The Patent Box Reloaded – Welcome to the Nexus
HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs have jointly launched a consultation on proposed changes to the UK Patent Box scheme. The changes are being proposed in order to meet proposals developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to harmonise preferential tax regimes that operate in G20 states.
The consultation runs until 4 December 2015 and sets out the Government’s preferred approach to the new international framework set out by the OECD. The consultation will affect UK business that hold/exploit patents.
Due to some slightly compressed deadlines arising from the OECD, the Government’s plan is to publish proposed legislation in December 2015 and then a response to the consultation in spring next year. The current patent box rules will apparently be modified by legislation in the 2016 Finance Bill.
The consultation document includes some background on the existing Patent Box scheme. The Patent Box, which of course is a tax initiative that seeks to make the UK competitive for high-tech companies, has apparently seen 639 companies taking part so far and receiving benefits that total £335 million. (more…)
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