Practice Amendment Notice
PAN 5/06 - Issued 12 April 2006
This Notice affects Examination practice about wide and vague specifications.
This is not a change of practice. The introductory text of paragraph 40 has been amended and paragraph 40.1 added, to clarify the legal basis for raising objections.
40 Wide and Vague specifications
Objection will be raised under Rule 8(2)(b) in all classes where a claim is made to 'All goods' or 'All services' in a Class - these descriptions are too vague and do not constitute a proper list of goods or services.
Applications filed in respect of specifications that are drafted in the form of the headings to the International Classes as listed in the 8th edition of the International Classification will not in the main be subject to an objection. The exceptions are Classes 7 and 45.
The following sets out in detail the practice to be adopted:
Class 7
In Class 7, claims to 'machines' without further qualification will be objected to. The following gives examples of descriptions which are acceptable, since in each case the end use of the machine has been identified:
- Machines for agricultural purposes;
- or Machines for use in manufacturing processes;
- or Machines for the woollen industry
- or other specific machines, eg washing machines.
Class 9
Applications filed in Class 9 which continue to make reference to 'electric, electrical and/or electronic apparatus, devices, equipment and instruments' will be objected to - whether listed separately or in combination.
Classes 42, 43 and 44
The Class 42, 43 and 44 headings are acceptable and will not attract Rule 8(2)(b) objections. However, applications which include claims such as 'services that cannot be classified in other classes' or 'miscellaneous services' will face an objection under Rule 8(2)(b).
Class 45
The class heading to Class 45 is:
Personal and social services rendered by others to meet the needs of individuals; security services for the protection of property and individuals.
The first part of the heading, 'Personal and social services rendered by others to meet the needs of individuals' is considered too vague and consequently a Rule 8(2)(b) objection will be raised against applications containing this description. Objections will also be taken against applications where specifications contain either 'personal services' or 'social services' as individual elements, eg, 'personal services rendered by others to meet the needs of individuals’ or the like descriptions. The second part of the heading, 'security services for the protection of property and individuals' is sufficiently precise and will not attract an objection.
40.1 Individual Terms which do not clearly indicate the nature of the goods or services
Although it is unlikely to happen very often, individual descriptions of goods or services (other than those taken from the Nice Guide) sometimes fail to clearly describe the nature of the goods or services, even when read in conjunction with the class of the application. In these circumstances an objection will be raised under Rule 8(2)(b).