Patent decision

BL number

O/013/01

Concerning rights in

WO95/01045

Hearing Officer

Mr R Walker

Decision date

8 January 2001

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

Jean-Francois Meunier

Provisions discussed

PR 1995 rr 85(1) and 110(4)

Keywords

Extensions of time

Related Decisions

None

Summary

An international patent application under the PCT designated, among others, GB and European patent (GB). At the normal time for entry into the national and regional phases the applicant decided to file for a European patent only. The applicants intention was to obtain patent protection in the UK by designating GB in the European patent application. However, by mistake GB was not designated and this mistake not spotted until after the grant of the European patent. The applicant then requested an extension of the period prescribed for the international application to enter the UK national phase. The hearing officer accepted that there had always been an intention to obtain patent protection in the UK but rejected the request because when the applicant had had the opportunity, he had decided not to follow the UK national route. This original decision had not been influenced by any unforeseen circumstances and the request for late entry into the national phase merely represented a change of mind (Heatex Group Ltds Application [1995] RPC 546 followed). The hearing officer also found that refusal of the request for late entry did not conflict with the UKs obligations under the PCT.

Full decision O/013/01 31Kb