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QUESTION PAPER REFERENCE: FC3 PERCENTAGE MARK AWARDED: 59%

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Examiner’suse only

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Question 1

a) DeadlineforvalidatinggrantedEuropeanpatentinEPC–

–sixmonthsafterthepublicationofEuropeansearchreport

b) i) Germany–

GermanyispartytotheLondonAgreement.ü0.5Germanyhas

Germanasofficiallanguagewhichiscommonwithoneofofficial

languageofEPOi.e.English,French,German.

ThestateswhicharepartytoLondonAgreementandhasatleastone

languagecommonwithoneoftheofficiallanguageofEPO,isexempt

fromtranslationrequirement.

Hence,inGermany,translationsarenotrequiredaspartofvalidation

ofagrantedEuropeanpatent.ü0.5

ii) Italy:

– ItalyisapartytotheLondonAgreement

– Italydoesnothavealanguagecommontooneoftheofficial

languagesofEPOi.e.English,French,German.

– ItalyrequiresatranslationinItalian.

– AsItalyisapartofLondonAgreementbutdoesnothaveEPO’sone

ofofficiallanguageincommon,atleastthetranslationofclaimsin

ItalianisrequiredaspartofvalidationofgrantedEuropeanpatent.

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iii) Netherlands:

– NetherlandsisapartytoLondonAgreement.ü1

– NetherlandsrequirestranslationinDutchorEnglish.

– Netherlandsdoesnothaveofficiallanguagelanguageincommon

withEPO’sofficiallanguagesi.e.English,French,German.ü1

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– Hence,NetherlandsrequiresfulltranslationinDutchorEnglishand

translationofclaimsinDutchü1,aspartofvalidationofgranted

Europeanpatent

– IftheEuropeanpatentispublishedinEnglish,Netherlandsrequires

onlytranslationofclaimsinDutch,aspartofvalidationofgranted

Europeanpatent.

MARKS AWARDED 4/8

Question 2

a) 31July2018+10days=10August2018

10August2018+4months=10December2018ü1

Assuming,10DecemberisnotaSaturday,SundayorEPOholiday,the

responsetoexaminationreportbefiledby10December2018.

Ifisanofficialholiday,responsecanbefiledonthenextworkingday.

b) – Applicanthasanasofrightextensionoftwomonthsü0.5toreplyto

examinationreport.Hence,responsecanbevalidlyfiledwithintwo

months(asofrightextension)afterfourmonthsdeadline.Noreason

required.Nofee.

– Ifapplicantfailedtorespondinasofrighttwomonthsextension,

hecanrequestfurtherprocessing.ü0.5Noreasonandrequiredfor

furtherprocessing.Applicantcanrequestitwhilefilingthe

response.ü0.5Theapplicantshouldfiletheresponsewithintwo

monthsfurtherprocessingdeadline,paythefurtherprocessing

feeü0.5,andrequestfurtherprocessing.

– Further,ifapplicantmissthefurtherprocessingdeadline,application

willbedeemedwithdrawnbutapplicantcanfileforre-establishment

ofrights.

– Re-establishmentofrightscanbefiledwithintwomonthsof

awarenessofmissingdeadlineorwithin12monthsofmissingthe

dealine.

– Requiresreasoningofnon-compliancealthoughduecareistaken

ofcircumstances.

– Requiretopayfee.

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– Ifapplicantmissesthefourmonthsdeadline,theEuropeanPatent

officemayissuenoticeandapplicantcanresponsewithinthetimeline

setbytheofficeinthenotification.Usually2-4months.

c) – cannotbroadenclaims.

– AmendmentsshouldbebasedontheissuesraisedintheExamination

report.

– Cannotaddmatterü1

– theclaimswhichwerecancelledandhasnobasisinthedescription,

cannotbere-introduced.

MARKS AWARDED 4/7

Question 3

PatentprotectioninHongKong:

– ThepatentprotectioncanbeobtainedinHongKongbasedonthepatent

applicationpublishedinUnitedKingdom.

– Requestmustbefiledinwriting.

– Requestmustbefiledwithinsixmonthsofpublicationofpatent

applicationorpatentinUnitedKingdom.ü1Inthiscase,upto3January

2018.

– AcertifiedcopyofUKapplication,applicationnumber,nameofinventor,

copyofsearchresultsifany,countryofapplication,needtofileinHong

Kong.

– InHongKong,onlyformalityexaminationisdoneanditreliesonthe

substantiveexaminationofcountryfromwhichtheprotectionisapplied

forinHongKong.

– WithintwomonthsoffilingapplicationinHongKong,theissuenotification

issentandthepatentisissuedthereafter.

MARKS AWARDED 1/4

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Question 4

AfterfinalofficeactionissuedinrespectofaUSutilitypatentapplication,

followingcoursesofactionareavailabletotheapplicanttokeeppatent

protectionpendinginUSwithoutlossofrights.

1) Fileargumentsand/oramendmentsinresponsetofinalofficeactionü1

2) Filerequestforcontinuedexamination(RCE)ü1

3) Afterfinalconsiderationprogramrequest(AFCP20)ü1

4) Appeal

5) QPIDS(QuickPathInformationDisclosureStatement).

Filerequestforcontinuedexamination(RCE)

– ApplicantcanrequestRCEandpaythefee.

– RCEgivesanoptiontotheapplicanttocontinuewiththeexamination

afterrejectioninfinalofficeaction.ü1

– RCEcanalsobefiledifanissuefeeispaidandbeforetheissuanceof

patent,soastofileIDS(InformationDisclosureStatement).

– RCEcanbefiledanytimeaslongaspatentapplicationispending.

– RCEre-openstheproceedings

– WithRCE,applicantcanfiletheamendmentsand/orarguments.

– RCEisexpensive.

AfterFinalConsiderationProgram[AFCP(2.0)]

– AfterFinalConsiderationProgramhasbeenextendedto30September

2019

– Itgivesanopportunitytoapplicanttofileamendmentsand/orarguments

andalsogivesanopportunitytotheExaminertoexplainhisrejection

groundsandpriorart.Examinermaydofurthersearch.

– ForAFCP,itisrequiredtomakeamendmenttoatleastoneclaim.

– AFCPcanberequestedbyapplicantifrejectionisreceivedinthefinal

officeaction.ü1

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– ItispossibletoarrangeaninterviewwithExaminerunderAFCP.

– Oncethefinalofficeactionisreceived,therewasnootheroptionthan

filingtheRCEbutwithAFCP,nowapplicantcanrequesttheexaminer

toreconsidertheirapplicationandconsidernewargumentsand/or

amendments.

– Canbefiledanytimebyapplicantaslongasapplicationispending

Appeal

– ApplicantcanappealthedecisioninfinalofficeactiontotheBoardof

Appeals.

– PTABconsiderstheappeal

Fileargumentsand/oramendments:

– Aftertheissuanceoffinalofficeaction,applicantcansubmitarguments

and/oramendmentswithinthreemonthsoffinalofficeaction.

– ChancesareExaminermaynotconsidertheseargumentsand/or

amendments.

QPIDS(QuickPathInformationDisclosureStatement)

– Tokeeptheapplicationpending,applicantcanfileforQPIDS.

– QPIDSisfiledtosubmitanypriorartwhichisrelevanttopatentabiltiyand

applicantisawareofthatnotmorethan3monthsoffilingQPIDS.

– Cansubmitthesearchresultsfromcorrespondingapplication’ssearch

reports.

MARKS AWARDED 5/8

Question 5

a) Minimumrequirementstoobtainafilingdate:

1) TheapplicantisentitledtofilePCTapplicationi.e.applicantiseither

nationalorresidentofPCTcontractingstate.ü1

2) Applicationisinprescribedlanguagei.e.acceptedbyreceivingoffice,

acceptedbyInternationalSearchAuthorityandisalanguageof

publication.ü1

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3) Toinclude

– requestthatthePCTpatentapplicationissoughtü1

– designationofatleastonecontractingstate

– descriptionof/identificationofinventorü1

– descriptionü0.5and/oroneormoreclaims.ü0.5

Theapplicanti.e.companyAisregisteredinEnglandhencehasaplaceof

businessinPCTcontractingstate.Hence,companyAisentitledtofilePCT

application

For(2)requirement,notethatInternationalBureauacceptsapplicationin

anylanguage.

b) ThePCTapplicationcanbefiledatreceivingofficeoratInternational

Bureau.Inthiscase,companyisregisteredinEnglandhencecanfilePCT

applicationat

1) atUKIPO(UnitedKingdomIntellectualPropertyOffice)asregisteredin

Englandü1.andhasplaceofbusinessinEngland.

2) atEPO(EuropeanPatentOffice)ascompanyAisregisteredin

Englandü1whichmeanshasprincipleplaceofbusinessinEngland

whichisaEPCcontractingstate.

3) atIB(InternationalBureau)asanyPCTapplicationcanbefiledat

InternationalBureau.ü1

c) – Claimamendmentscanbefiled,laterof–

– withintwomonthsofreceiptofInternationalsearchreportü1

– orwithin16monthsofearliestfilingorprioritydateü1

MARKS AWARDED 10/1010

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Question 6

Methodsoftreatment

ofhumanbody

Business

Methods

China No ü0.5 Noassuch

Japan No ü0.5 Yesü0.5

India No ü0.5 No ü0.5

MARKS AWARDED 2.5/3

Question 7

a) OptionsforrespondingtoRule71(3)communication:

1) – Reviewthetextintendedforgrantandamendmentsmadeby

examiner.

– Approvethetextforgrantü1

– Payprintingfee,issueü0.5fee,excessclaimsfeeü0.5,excess

pageclaimsifanydueü0.5.Inthiscase,asapplicationincludes15

claimsand25pagesoftext,noexcessfeeisrequired.

– FilethetranslationofclaimsinothertwolanguagesofEPO.

Fore.g.iffiledpatentapplicationisinEnglish,submitclaims

translationsinFrenchandGerman.ü0.5

– Allabovecanbedonewithin4monthsdeadlinei.e.3September

2018+10days+4months=13January2019.ü1

– Oncethetextisapprovedforgrant,cannotmakeanyamendments.

2) – Filetheamendmentsandforclaimamendments,specifywhere

thebasiscanbefoundintheEuropeanpatentapplication.ü1

– Amendmentscanalsobefiledwithin4monthsdeadlinei.e.

13January2019asabove.

– Ifamendmentsarefiled,theapplicationagaingoesinto

theExaminationpoolandamendmentsareexamined.asto

requirementofclaimsclear&concise,donotgobeyondthescope

ofapplicationasfiled.,patentability.etc.ü0.5

– Intheamendments,applicantcanalsoaddnewclaimsof

unsearchedinvention.Claimswillbeexaminedtothepatentability

andunityofinventioncriteria.

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– Incaseofclaimsinexcessof15,theapplicantmayhavetopay

excessclaimsfees.

– Also,ifthepagesoftextexceeds35,havetopayexcesspagefee.

– Theaboveclaimamendmenttoincludeunsearchedinventiongives

thepossibilityofaddingprotectionofpatent.

3) Donotapprovethetextintendedtograntandfiledivisional.

applicationtotheunsearchedinvention.Donotpayissuefee.

– DivisionalapplicationcanonlybefiledforpendingEuropean

patentapplicationandcanbefileduptothedaybeforegrant.

Oncetheissuefeeispaid,patentwillbegrantedwithin3months.

Hence,bynotpayingtheissuefee,applicantcangainextratimeto

filedivisionalapplication.

– Firstgenerationdivisionalapplicationdoesnothaveextracostbut

second&furthergenerationdivisionalsincurincreasingfilingcost.

Flatafterfifthgeneration.

– Payanyduerenewalfee.

b) – DivisionalapplicationcanonlybefiledattheEPO.(theHague,

Munich)ü1

– Divisionalapplicationisfiledaslongasthepatentapplicationis

pendingi.e.uptothedaybeforegrantasmentionofgrantinpatent

bulletin.ü1

– Feesdue–Filingfeeü0.5fordivisionalwhichincreasesfromsecond

generationofdivisional,claimsfees,excesspageandexcessü0.5

claimsfee,searchfeeü0.5,examinationfeeü0.5,renewalfeeü0.5

whichcouldbebackdatedifdivisionalapplicationisfiledaftertwo

yearsoffilingapatentapplication.

– claimsfee,searchfee,examinationfee–withinonemonthof

filingü0.5(canbeextended)

– Filingfee–onfiling

– Renewalfee–

designationfee.

– Thesubjectmatterofdivisionalshouldnotgobeyondthesubject

matterofparentapplication.ü1

– Thedifferentscopeofclaimscanbefiledfordivisional

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– Mayberesultofunityofinventionobjection.Hence,canpursue

secondinventionindivisional.

– Allthecountriesdesignatedinparentapplicationswillbedesignatedin

divisional.

– thepatenttermofdivisionalissameasthepatenttermofparent

application.i.e.20yearsfromdateoffiling.

MARKS AWARDED 11.5/20

Question 9

a) US-1 Filingdate=8October2007

Grantdate=11December2011

InUS,therenewalfeeisdueon3·5years,7·5yearsü1and11·5ü1 years

aftergrant.

Henceinthiscase,renewalfeesmustbepaid–

i) Firstrenewalfeedueat3·5yearshence11December2011+3·5years

=11June2015

ii) Secondrenewalfeedueat7·5yearshence11December2011+

7·5years=11June2019

iii) Thirdrenewalfeedueat11·5yearshence11December2011+

11·5years=11June2023.

Furthertherenewalfeecanbepaidwithin6monthsgraceperiodü0.5

aftertheduedateofrenewalfee.Thesurchargehastopaytousegrace

periodhencerenewalcanbevalidlypaidwithsurchargeat4years,8years

at11yearsaftergrant.Hence,by11December2015,11December2019

and11June2023,inthiscase.

Ifthegraceperiodofsixmonthsismissed,canrequestforre-instatement

ofpatent.

ExpirydateofUS1is,

20yearsfromfilingdatehence,8October2007+20years=8October

2027ü1

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b) SG-2filingdate=3November2017.

LocalsearchandexaminationprocedureforSG2

i) Firstoption–separatesearchandexamination

Canrequestsearch13monthsoffilingofSG-2hence,3November

2017+13months=3December2017.Hence,inthiscasecanrequest

searchby3December2017.

Canrequestexamination36monthsoffilingofSG-2i.e.3November

2017+36months=3November2020.Thereforecanrequest

examinationby3November2020.

ii) Secondoption–combinedsearchandexamination

– canrequestsearchandexaminationcombinedby36monthsof

filingofSG-2Hence,by3November2017.ü1

– combinedsearchandexaminationischeaper.

c) Somecountriesprovidethepatentprotectionforinventionsevenifthey

areinadvertentlydisclosedbytheapplicant.Thisiscalledasagraceperiod

forfilingpatentapplicationswhichareresultsofpreviousdisclosures

byapplicantorabsuviedisclosuresbythirdpartywhoillegallyobtained

inventiondisclosurefromapplicantorinventors.

Australia–provides12monthsgraceperiodfordisclosuresbyapplicantü1

priortofiling.Inthiscase,attradeshow.

China–provides6monthsgraceperiodfordisclosuresbyapplicantprior

tofiling.Inthiscase,attradeshow.However,itisrequiredto

filethecertificateofdisclosurefromtradeshowanddeclaration

ofdisclosureatthetimeoffilingtheapplicationforanewbaby

bottle.Butneedtocheckdetailsoftradeshowasitmaynotbe

coveredbyrequirementofChinesegraceperiod.ü1

theUnitedStates–provides1yeargraceperiodforthedisclosuresby

applicant.Inthiscase,attradeshow.ü1

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d) EuropeanPatentconvention–provides6monthsgradeperiodfor

disclosuresbyapplicant.Inthiscaseattradeshow.Also,asthetradeshow

waslocaltradeshowinUK,asitwasintheEuropeanPatentConvention

contractingstate,thegraceperiodof6monthsapplies.

MARKS AWARDED 7.5/20

Question 10

a) Inter-partesreviewattheUSPTO

– Aftertheexpiryofnine-monthsperiodofpastgrantreviewü1orafter

theterminationofanypendingpost-grantreview,anypartycanapply

forinter-partesreview.

– Interpartesreviewmustbeonthebasisofnoveltyü0.5 and

obviousnessü0.5andbasedonprintedpublications.ü0.5

– Canapplyagainstanypatentgrantedonorafter16September2012.

– Groundsofinter-partesreviewarerestricted.

– Whilefilingtheapplicationmustincludethepatentnumberofwhich

claimswillbeopposed,extentofreviewi.e.whichclaimstobe

opposed,groundsofopposition,evidence,factsandargumentsbased

onevidence.Mustspecifyhowtheclaimsareanticipatedbypriorart,

whichpartisanticipatedbywhichpriorartandwherebasiscanbe

foundinpriorart.

– USPTOwillconsiderinter-partesreviewonlyiftheappealantcan

showthat“heisreasonablytoprevailwithatleastoneclaimbeing

challenged.”ü1

Ex-partere-examination

– Anypartycanfileforex-partere-examinationü1basedontheprior

artwhichisrelevanttopatentabilityofthegrantedpatent.

– Also,onthegroundofdoublepatenting,iftheinventorsorapplicant

issameandpatentsaregrantedforsameinvention.Inthiscase,

applicantmayfileterminaldisclaimer.

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– PTABreviewsthevalidityofpatentbasedon“preponderanceof

evidence”insteadof“clearandconvincingevidence”asforother

cases.

b) YestheclientcanopposegrantofJapanesepatentasanypartycan

opposegrantedJapanesepatent.ü1

ThedeadlinetofileoppositiontograntedJapanesepatentis6monthsü1

afterthepublicationofgrantedpatent.i.e.inthiscase3July2018+

6months=3January2019.Hence,clientcanfileoppositiontoJPgranted

patentby3January2019.

c) – Pastgrantoppositioncanbefiledtoattackvalidityofgranted

Europeanpatent.

– Pastgrantoppositioncanbefiledwithin9monthsü0.5ofmentionof

publicationofgrant.Inthiscaseby6September2018.ü0.5

– Pastgrantoppositioncanbebasedonlackofpatentability,

insufficiency,addedsubjectmatter.

– CanalsofileappealtoattackvalidityofgratedEuropeanpatent

– Centrallimitationmaybyfiled.

– Ifcentrallimitationisnotfiled,mayhavetodealwithinvaliditycase

innationalpatentcourtsü1inthiscaseUKIPO,FrancePatentOffice,

GermanyPatentOffice.ü1

d) RevocationinGermany

– Aftertheninemonthsdeadlineoffilingopposition,anypartycanfile

forrevocationinGermany.ü0.5

– Groundsforrevocation

– Patentabilityü0.5

– Insufficiencyü0.5

– Addedsubjectmatterü0.5

– Usurpation/infringementofparty–anyadverselyaffectedparty

canfilerevocationbasedonthisground

– patentgoesbeyondthescopeofprotection.

– TherevocationcanbehandledbyFederalpatentcourtü0.5

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– Basedonthementionedgroundsandevidence&factsandarguments,

thePatentcourtdecidesontherevocationcase.

– Patentapplicantisgivenanopportunitytofilehiscomments/

argumentsoramendments.

– Anypartyadverselyaffectedmayappealtohighcourt.ü1

MARKS AWARDED 13/2013

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