Patent decision

BL number

O/243/02

Concerning rights in

Concerning application to restore patent EP0535781

Hearing Officer

Mr M C Wright

Decision date

13 June 2002

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

Mr Oscar Mario Guagnelli Hidalgo

Provisions discussed

PA.1977 Section 28(3)

Keywords

Restoration

Related Decisions

None

Summary

The proprietor engaged the services of a patent agent to send reminders to one of his employees (his daughter) who would then instruct the agent to pay the fee. The employee was also entrusted to notify the agent about the change of the address to which reminders should be sent. However, the e-mail she sent to the agent about the address change was not received. Moreover, she failed to follow agreed practice which was to chase up such correspondence by telephone when necessary, e.g. if no acknowledgement was received. Consequently, she did not receive reminders about the ninth year renewal fee and so no instructions were issued to pay the fee. The proprietor could not have anticipated the failure by his otherwise trusted and reliable employee to ensure that the agent was provided with an up-to-date address. Hence, the failure to pay the fee was due to circumstances which it would be unreasonable for the proprietor to have foreseen. The Hearing Officer accordingly allowed the request for restoration.

Full decision O/243/02 15Kb