Patent decision

BL number
O/263/06
Concerning rights in
Whether European patent application reference number P410819EP was received by the Patent Office and should have been accorded a filing date
Hearing Officer
Mr B Micklewright
Decision date
18 September 2006
Person(s) or Company(s) involved
Fuji Jukogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Keywords
Filing date
Related Decisions
None

Summary

The applicant alleged that a European patent application was filed at the UK Patent Office on 19 December 2003 in the name of Fuji Jukogyo Kabushiki Kaisha by their agent. The Patent Office had no record of having received this application. The applicant filed evidence concerning their internal procedures for ensuring that new applications were filed on the correct date and to the correct place and also evidence to demonstrate that these procedures were followed in the case of the application in suit. The hearing officer found that the issue was finely balanced but, on the balance of probabilities, concluded that the application in suit arrived at the Patent Office on 19 December 2003 but was then misplaced within the Patent Office. The application in suit should therefore have been given as its filing date the 19 December 2003.

Full decision O/263/06 PDF document41Kb