Patent decision

BL number

O/0704/23

Concerning rights in

GB2013931.7

Hearing Officer

Miss J Pullen

Decision date

24 July 2023

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

Walmart Apollo, LLC

Provisions discussed

Patents Act 1977, sections 15(9), 20(1); Rule 108

Keywords

Divisional application, Extensions of time, Section 20 period

Related Decisions

None

Summary

The examiner declined to exercise discretion to allow extensions of time under Rule 108(3) to extend the compliance date of the parent so that a divisional application could be filed. It was argued that the circumstances were exceptional due to the number of examination reports issued in the12 months up to the compliance period, and the late stage at which acceptable claims were agreed. The hearing officer agreed with the examiner that these did not amount to exceptional circumstances and refused to exercise discretion to allow the extensions of time.

Full decision O/0704/23 274Kb