Patent decision

BL number
O/063/20
Concerning rights in
GB1902006.4
Hearing Officer
Mr H Jones
Decision date
31 January 2020
Person(s) or Company(s) involved
Nanjing University
Provisions discussed
Section 20A and 89A, Rule 108
Keywords
PCT application, Reinstatement
Related Decisions
None

Summary

A late request for entry of the intentional application into the UK national phase meant that the application was taken to be withdrawn under section 89A(4). The applicant requested reinstatement of the application on the basis that it was always the applicant’s intention to seek patent protection in the UK and that the failure to request entry into the national phase in time was unintentional. The evidence showed that the applicant had initially requested entry into the European regional phase at the EPO and that this was initially the strategy for seeking patent protection in the UK, It was only when the applicant discovered that the EPO would not accept a late claim to priority (because of the higher standard it applies, namely the all due care test) that the applicant decided to request entry into the UK national phase, which by this time was after the extended time period allowed for doing so. The Hearing Officer found no evidence to show that the applicant intended to request entry into the UK national phase before the time period for doing so and so the failure could not be considered to be unintentional. The application was not reinstated.

Full decision O/063/20 PDF document202Kb