Patent decision

BL number

O/0308/25

Hearing Officer

Mr N Hanley

Decision date

1 April 2025

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

Lucy Rose Limited

Provisions discussed

Sections 15(9), 20, 120 and Rules 19 and 108

Keywords

Divisional application, Extensions of time, Filing date

Related Decisions

None

Summary

The applications for divisional applications were filed on a Saturday and accompanied by a Form 52 to extend the Compliance data to the parent in order to meet the provisions of Rule 19. Under Section 120 and the Comptroller’s Direction on Office hours the Form 52 was given the next working day, a Monday, which had the effect of making the applications “late filed divisionals”. The applicant requested that Comptroller exercised their discretion to accept the applications on that basis. The Hearing Officer noted that the test in this matter is one that requires an exceptional circumstances and due diligence to have been followed. In reviewing the actions on the applications, the hearing officer found that neither exceptional circumstances nor due diligence were present and refused the request. The applications were remitted back to the examiner for further processing.

Full decision O/0308/25 254Kb