Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Patent Law Blogs -> Patent Docs

Patent Law

: Patent Docs

EPO Prepares to Roll out New Prior Art Search Disclosure Rules

By Donald Zuhn, Kevin Noonan, Chris Singer, Sherri Oslick, and Jason Derry

By James DeGiulio -- On January 1, 2011, all direct European patent applications and European national phase applications will be subject to new EPC Rules 141 and Rule 70b, which modify the requirements for supplying search results on priority applications. In December 2009, the European Patent Office (EPO) announced in the Official Journal the amendment of Rule 141 and the insertion of new Rule 70b. These changes to the EPC enhance the requirements for providing search information on related applications and setting penalties for failing to do so. Some view these new rules as reminiscent of the Information Disclosure Statement...

Full post as published by Patent Docs on November 02, 2010 (boomark / email).