Patent decision

BL number

O/078/07

Concerning rights in

GB 2410415B

Hearing Officer

Mr S Probert

Decision date

16 March 2007

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

Ms Penelope Mary Townsend

Provisions discussed

PA 1977 section 74B

Keywords

Opinions and Reviews

Related Decisions

OPINION 07/06

Summary

In giving the original opinion, the examiner had been required to construe a passage in claim 1. He found that the passage required the foot portion of the patented sock to be formed of a single piece of material. The proprietor challenged the construction put on that passage, arguing that both the plain meaning of the passage and purposive construction of the passage led to the conclusion that there could be more than one piece.

The hearing officer said that the purpose of the review was to consider whether the examiner erred in reaching his conclusion, not to provide a second opinion. He held that the correct approach to construing a claim was purposive construction, and that the examiner had applied this approach and explained his reasoning. He therefore declined to set the opinion aside.

No third party was involved in either the original opinion or the review.

Full decision O/078/07 29Kb