BRAZIL
May 17, 2016
The Brazilian PTO strengthens its position against ANVISA's issuance of opinions regarding patentability of applications related to pharmaceutical inventions. Within the frame of a litigation raised by a pharmaceutical company against ANVISA, the Brazilian Patent Office has filed an opinion regarding the role that ANVISA is adopting in the examination of patent applications.
COLOMBIA
May 17, 2016
Some important changes recently imposed by the Colombian Patent Office, effective immediately, will impact the procedure of patent applications. The Colombian Patent Office has issued Resolution No.3719 dated February 2, 2016, by means of which it has regulated, (i) divisional and conversion of patent applications (a complete information will follow shortly as the changes need to be further explained) and (ii) the examination of patent applications in process.
GUATEMALA
May 17, 2016
Guatemala has approved the accession to the Trademark Law Treaty (TLT) (1994), administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization which will enter into force on March 31, 2016. The accession is aimed at simplifying the filing of applications and expediting the registration of trademarks.
MEXICO
May 17, 2016
On April 28th, the Mexican Industrial Property Law was amended to implement the new trademark opposition system which was approved at the end of 2015.
URUGUAY
May 17, 2016
Based on a resolution issued early this year, the Uruguayan Patent Office is expected to request holders of patent applications filed before 2010 to ratify if they are still interested in pursuing their patent applications.
VENEZUELA
May 17, 2016
After increasing substantially the official fees, the Venezuelan Government has now approved a new official currency exchange rate with the US Dollar. As a result of that, the official fees to be paid may enjoy a more convenient exchange, so that payments are decreased.
EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE
May 17, 2016
In case G1/15, the EPO's Enlarged Board of Appeal is considering the question of whether a patent publication can be cited as prior art against a second application which derives from the same parent.
EUROPEAN UNION
May 17, 2016
The European Parliament voted in favor of the Trade Secrets Directive on April. The Directive pretends to harmonize trade secrets laws across Europe, defying what constitutes trade secret and providing remedies for misappropriation.
TUNISIA
May 17, 2016
Following the agreement between the EPO and the Tunisian Patent Office, European Patent Validation Law will enter into force in Tunisia once the implementing regulations are issued.
INDIA
May 17, 2016
On February 19th, the Indian Patent Office amended its guidelines to provide clarity for patent examiners and practitioners on patenting computer-related inventions (CRIs).
KUWAIT
May 17, 2016
Pursuant to an unexpected decision, and shortly after Kuwait's Council of Ministers voted and published on March 27, 2016 a new law, Law no. 11/2016, which paves the way for the country's accession to the PCT, the Kuwaiti Patent Office has decided to stop accepting patent applications.
CHINA
May 17, 2016
On March 24th, the Chinese Trademark Office announced the introduction of new measures to facilitate the prosecution of trademarks.
INDIA
May 17, 2016
The new trademark rules have been published for "Public Comments". These changes bring significant Amendments to current Trademark Rules.
INDIA
May 17, 2016
On March 29th, 2016 the Indian Trademark Registry surprisingly decided to abandon approximately 200,000 applications and 20,000 oppositions.
INDONESIA
May 17, 2016
Current applicable Law in Indonesia requires that all license agreements regarding IP rights (copyright and related rights, patents, marks, industrial design, integrated-circuit layout design, and trade secrets) are registered for recordation at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights of the Republic of Indonesia.
JAPAN
May 17, 2016
As of April 1st, Paris route applications filed in Japan can be filed in any language and then, within 16 months of the priority date, file the Japanese translation.
LAOS
May 17, 2016
The Lao People's Democratic Republic has notified that the recording of licenses in the International Register of the WIPO shall have no effect in the Lao People's Democratic Republic.
TAIWAN
May 17, 2016
In April 2016, amended Guidelines for the substantive examination of design patents are applicable in Taiwan.
SOUTH KOREA
May 17, 2016
As of June 30th, some relevant amendments in the Korean Patent Act will enter into effect. Among others, (i) any interested party can file a cancellation action against a patent application, (ii) the time frame to request examination for patents filed after March 1st, 2017, will be shortened to 3 years from the filing date and (iii) the burden of proof in patent infringement actions will be switched to the alleged infringer, in case they do not produce relevant material or information if requested by the Court.
SOUTH KOREA - TAIWAN
May 17, 2016
Under the PDX program, an applicant who first files an invention or utility model patent application with the TIPO and who subsequently files an application with the KIPO claiming priority of the earlier Taiwan patent application may request the KIPO to adopt electronic priority documents.
VIETNAM - JAPAN
May 17, 2016
Vietnam launched on April 1st a PPH pilot program with the Japan Patent Office applicable to Vietnamese patent applications (i) claiming priority to a Japanese application under the Paris Convention, (ii) PCT national stage entries in Vietnam of applications filed with the Japanese Patent Office without priority, as well as (iii) applications as indicated in (ii) which claim priority from a PCT application.
AUSTRALIA
May 17, 2016
On February 1st, 2016, the Australian Patent Office released the new guidelines for assessing whether computer-related inventions relate to patentable subject matter.