Patent decision

BL number
O/370/07
Concerning rights in
EP1175160B
Hearing Officer
Mr A C Howard
Decision date
20 December 2007
Person(s) or Company(s) involved
Automation Conveyors Ltd
Provisions discussed
Patents Act 1977 Section 74A; Rules 92 to 100 Patents Rules 2007
Keywords
Opinions and Reviews
Related Decisions
None

Summary

The request for an opinion on validity was refused under section 74A(3)(b). The request had argued on the basis of patent documents that had been referred to in the prosecution history at the EPO. One of these had been cited in the international search report as category “X” but not referred to by the substantive examiner, while two had been cited in substantive examination for different reasons to those now forming the basis of the request. Two further citations had not been referred to previously but were only held out as relevant to subordinate claims. The hearing officer decided that it would not be appropriate to revisit in an opinion any question that it could be assumed had been considered during examination even if this was not explicit in the prosecution history. It was also decided that pre-grant examination does not constitute “proceedings” and that the appropriate provision was s. 74A(3)(b) rather than rule 92.

Full decision O/370/07 PDF document52Kb