NEWS JANUARY 2016 - DECEMBER 2016
ARGENTINA
October 17, 2016
There is a widespread consensus among the different Divisions of the Federal Court of Appeals, sharing that trademark infringement causing an unjustified damage should be compensated.
However, the trademark holder must submit sufficient evidence of any alleged damage. Also, trademarks are meant to be used and not merely sold. Federal Court of Appeals in Civil and Commercial Matters ruled that the registration of trademarks with the sole purpose of their subsequent sale is forbidden
ARGENTINA
October 17, 2016
On September 19th, 2016 the Argentine Patent and Trademark Office (ARPTO) issued a Resolution that will come into force on October 15th, 2016 pursuant to which patent applicants will be able to request accelerated examination of patent applications.
According to this Regulation, the ARPTO is authorized to consider that the essential requirements of patentability have been satisfied as long as the patent application examination has not started by October 15th, 2016 and the patent has been granted abroad for the same invention (independently of whether priority has been claimed or not).
AUSTRALIA-EPO
October 17, 2016
Pilot program between the Australian Patent Office and the European Patent Office (EPO) started on July 1st, 2016.
A favorable examination report of one application can be used to speed up the examination of the counterpart application if a person has related patent applications in Australia (inc. a PCT application) and the EPO.
BAHRAIN
October 17, 2016
Bahrain increases official fees (1,392USD) to conform to the Law 6/2016 of the GCC Trademark Law.
The new official fees cover all trademarks matters filed from May 29th, 2016 as well as retroactively for pending trademarks applications as regards their publication and registration fees. In addition to that, Trademark applications will be published every Thursday on the official website of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism. Such publications will contain the details of each accepted trademark application, transfers of ownership, recordals of name and address changes, changes of representative agent, and approved recordal of mergers.
BRAZIL
October 17, 2016
Any interested party can now request priority examination status for a patent application by another applicant.
It would have to prove that: (i) it has been accused by the applicant of reproducing the object of the patent application, or (ii) it holds a patent application or a granted patent for a technology which is equivalent to that of the application or the holder of technology which is equivalent to that of the other patent application. Furthermore, in order to be eligible for priority examination status a national patent application (either filed with the BRPTO or under PCT) must also later be filed abroad. This initiative has duration of only one (1) year and it is limited to a maximum of one hundred (100) patent applications.
CAMBODIA
October 17, 2016
The Ministry of Commerce introduced a new regulation on the procedures to record and file permission letters for imported goods bearing exclusive trademarks.
An exclusive distributorship must be registered at the Department of Intellectual Property Rights for the trademark owner or distributor to enforce their rights against third parties.
CAYMAN ISLANDS
October 17, 2016
Started in August 1st, 2016 patent and trademark annual fee payments will no longer be accepted in advance of January 1st in the year in which they fall due.
Therefore, annual fees due in 2017 must be paid on or after January 1st, 2017.
DIJIBOUTI
October 17, 2016
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).
Dijibouti became a member of the PCT Agreement on September 23rd, 2016.
INDONESIA
October 17, 2016
The Indonesian Government recently issued the Ministry of Law and Human Rights Regulation No. 8 Year 2016 on the recordal of Intellectual Property (IP) Licensing Agreements.
The Regulation addresses a previous deficiency in Indonesia in that, without recordation, parties didn't have the ability to enforce their licensed IP against third parties
IRAQ
October 17, 2016
All trademark application shall contain the following information in order to proceed with the registration procedure:
(i) Scientific name of the product, (ii) trade name of the producer, (iii) pharmaceutical formula of the product, (iv) name of manufacturing company if not the applicant, and (v) name of local distributor, if any.
JAPAN - VIETNAM
October 17, 2016
A bilateral agreement has been signed between National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam (NOIP) and Japan (PPH - Patent Prosecution Highway).
The trial period of this agreement started from April 1st, 2016 and the pilot program will be implemented at the end of March 31st, 2019. Under this agreement, both national offices are encouraged to work together and enable patent applicants to request accelerated processing of patent applications in the national phase.
RUSSIA
October 17, 2016
The Registry is designed to become an efficient means of dealing with infringements of exclusive rights on the Internet, as well as proving the ownership of intellectual property rights.
The Registry is owned and administrated by a commercial organization and public authorities.
CHINA
October 17, 2016
SIPO issued three regulations to promote China's patent law enforcement: (i) guide of determining patent tort; (ii) evident rule on patent administrative enforcement; and (iii) guide on patent disputes administration mediation.
Moreover, two thousand (2,000) more goods and services are acceptable to facilitate trademark registration procedure, on-line filing and searching. On the other hand, on August 1st, 2016 the Supreme Court of China (SPC) has published a new judicial interpretation regarding the applicability of relevant laws when dealing with patent infringement cases. The SPC provides guidance on issues related to (i) claim construction, (ii) determination of infringement and tests for defense, (iii) contributory liability and (iv) standard essential patents that shall be applicable to all inventions, utility models and design patents. This interpretation took effect from April 1st, 2016.
EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE
October 17, 2016
Changes to the EPO opposition procedure came into force on July 1st, 2016.
The key changes include: (i) time limits will be extended only in exceptional cases upon a substantiated request; (ii) the opposition division may exceptionally consider other grounds for opposition beyond those raised in the notice of opposition; (iii) clarity objections may only be raised during opposition proceedings to the extent that a fault has been introduced by an amendment made after the grant of the patent; (iv) the final deadline for written submissions will now normally be set at two (2) months prior to the hearing; and (v) amendments filed during oral proceedings should be in the form of typed documents.
HONG KONG
October 17, 2016
Key changes that will hopefully be implemented by early 2018.
These changes are: (i) introduction of an "original grant" patent (OGP) system for direct filing of standard patent applications in the country; (ii) a substantive examination procedure for Hong Kong short-term patents; (iii) confirmation that up to two independent claims may be included in a short term patent; (iv) express provisions for second medical use; (v) introduction of provisions dealing with entitlement disputes, restoration of priority rights for applications of "original grant" standard patent and the ability to submit third party observations before the IPD; and (vi) restriction of the use by individuals of certain titles for supplying patent agency services in Hong Kong which may imply endorsement by the Government, or recognition by law.
INDIA
October 17, 2016
The Indian Government's Patent (Amendments) Rules 2016 came into effect on May 16th, 2016. The purpose of these amendments is to speed up the patent prosecution before the Indian Patent Office.
The most significant rules for patent prosecution are the following: (i) shortened timelines for putting an application in order for grant, (ii) allowance of claim deletion at national phase entry, (iii) accelerated examination, refund of examination fees and ceasing of costs for sequence listings, (iv) reference to deposition of biological material, (v) deadline for filing the power of attorney document, (vi) speeded issuance of foreign filing licenses and (vii) stimulation of start-ups.
KUWAIT
October 17, 2016
The Kuwaiti Ministry of Trade and Industry approved Law no.115 of 2016 on the regulations implementing patent Law no. 71 of 2013.
This new Law came into force on April 4th, 2016. However, it is important to mention that the Kuwaiti Office stopped accepting new patent application as of April 4th, 2016 and it is advising potential applicants seeking for protection in Kuwait to use the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) regional patent office. Moreover, since Kuwait became a member of the PCT agreement on September 9th, 2016 any international patent application filed on or after this date, will automatically include the designation of Kuwait. Therefore, from now on, nationals and residents of Kuwait will have the right as from September 9th, 2016 to file international applications under PCT.
SAUDI ARABIA
October 17, 2016
The new GCC Trademark Law and Implementing Regulations will come into force on September 28th, 2016.
It stipulates a set of provisions that will be applied uniformly across all the GCC countries in regards to the prosecution and enforcement of trademark rights. It is a unifying law; consequently, it does not offer a unitary registration system.
SINGAPORE
October 17, 2016
Important updates that will apply to new patent applications on or after May 16th, 2016.
These updates refer to: (i) national applications for a patent (and any divisional applications arising from them) with a filing date on or after May 16th, 2016; and (ii) international applications entering national phase (and any divisional applications arising from them) on or after May 16th, 2016.
SINGAPORE
October 17, 2016
On July 19th, 2016 the IPO announced that post-grant amendments may not be possible if:
(i) A full disclosure of all relevant matters in relation to the proposed amendments was not provided by the patentee, (ii) there was an unreasonable delay in seeking the amendments, or (iii) an unfair advantage was obtained by delaying the amendments which the patentee knew to be needed. This criterion will apply to all pending and new request for post-grant amendments.
TAIWAN
October 17, 2016
New practice for submitting priority documents for new patent applications filed in Taiwan became effective on July 1st, 2016.
The new practice applies to (i) patent applications filed on or after July 1st, 2016 and (ii) patent applications filed prior to July 1st, 2016 for which the priority document(s) has (have) not been filed up to July 1st, 2016.
THAILAND
October 17, 2016
Among the amendments that became effective on July 28th, 2016 it is important to point out the new chapter on trademark registration.
It introduces a set of changes for Thailand to accede to the Madrid Protocol: (i) multi-class applications are available, (ii) sound marks are registrable (iii) association of marks is no longer required and (iv) suspension of later applications for marks deemed identical or similar to previous applications /registrations.
NEW ZEALAND
October 17, 2016
The three main new Act divisional issues are:
(i) An absolute bar exists for filing a divisional application later than five (5) years from the complete filing date of the originating parent by preventing availability to request any examination of the divisional application, (ii) need to be filed within the initial response period set after issuance of an examination report, and without reliance on any extension of time, otherwise a "substantive response" must be filed on the parent in order to validly file the divisional, and (iii) may result in self-collision with its parent application where claims of the parent and/or divisional contain added subject matter not present in the original priority/provisional filing, and therefore any added subject matter should be kept in separate claims for both parent and divisional applications.
WIPO
October 17, 2016
As from June 6th, 2016, users of the Madrid System will be able to request the expedited establishment of an attestation or of a certified copy from the International Register.
WIPO will emit the document within five (5) working days upon the receipt of such a request and the payment of one hundred (100) Swiss francs per document in addition to the corresponding fees.
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.
Among other things, it should result in the acceptance of multiclass applications. The TLT will have to be now implemented by the Guatemalan authorities.
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.
These amendments will imply that within 10 business days of receiving a trademark application, it will be published in the Gazette. Anyone interested will be able to file an opposition within 1 month from the publication.
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.
The Patent Office states that there is no legal provision supporting the issuance of opinions on patentability by ANVISA and claims for avoiding the "subterfuges" that ANVISA's interpretation imply. The divergent interpretation will most likely be maintained but this opinion reinforces the position of the Brazilian Patent Office against ANVISA's interference 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.
In relation to this second (ii) issue, when the applicant in its response to the examination of patentability modifies: the claim chapter, the description of the invention or presents a new claim chapter, it is necessary to pay again, the fee for the examination of patentability. Please note that the Patent Office, if deemed necessary, can request up to two (2) new exams and/or office actions. However, the Patent Office will have 18 months from the publication of the patent application and 9 months for utility mode applications to issue the office actions. These changes are effective also to pending prosecution of patent applications.
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.
If no reply is filed to this request, patent applications may be considered abandoned.
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.
The rate was effective on March 9th and affects payments for trademark renewals, transfers/assignments, licenses, patent and granting fees as well as payments of first annuities.
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.
The referral aims at obtaining clarification on the assessment of partial priority as well as regarding the so-called "poisonous divisionals". A decision is expected during 2016.
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.
Once the Directive is adopted and published, it will come into force. EU Member States will have two years to implement it into national law.
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.
All applications will have to be filed before the GCC patent office if protection in Kuwait is desired. In relation to trademarks, substantial procedural changes took effect a few months ago. The following may be highlighted: Opposition period will be of 60 days as of the publication; a legalized Certificate of Incorporation or Extract from the Commercial Registry will have to be submitted with a trademark application; also, renewals, assignments or changes of address/local associate will be published.
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.
After that, European patent applications will allow the designation of Tunisia and eventually for the EP grants to be validated in Tunisia.
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).
The guidelines, among other things, clarify that: (i) the substance of the invention must be evident outside of subject-matter that is otherwise excluded from patentability; (ii) all components must be fully described and shown; and (iii) any working relationships between components, and the effect of those relationships, must be described.
INDIA
May 17, 2016
The new trademark rules have been published for "Public Comments". These changes bring significant Amendments to current Trademark Rules.
It needs to be highlighted that Official Fees may increase substantially (up to 110 per cent), including fees for new trademark application, request for expedited examination, renewal, title update, etc. It is highly recommendable to consider these changes as the new fees are expected to be applicable as soon as the changes are effective.
CHINA
May 17, 2016
On March 24th, the Chinese Trademark Office announced the introduction of new measures to facilitate the prosecution of trademarks.
Some of the measures include (i) the possibility to request the expedition of some administrative procedures in case of emergency (for instance trademark assignment and renewal), (ii) the inclusion of more explanatory content in office actions to help applicants in making amendments, (iii) the possibility to share evidence in multiple connected oppositions or (iv) the extension of the scope of combined examinations on oppositions if the parties involved, marks opposed and the evidence are the same.
INDIA
May 17, 2016
On March 29th, 2016 the Indian Trademark Registry surprisingly decided to abandon approximately 200,000 applications and 20,000 oppositions.
After the confusion that this resolution created in the IP community, the High Court of Delhi issued a stay on all the abandonment orders that have been passed and directed not to undertake further abandonment of any trademark application without following due process provided under the Act. A hearing on May is expecte4d to decide on this matter, which must be followed closely.
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.
Otherwise, the license agreement will not be opposable to third parties. On February 24th, 2016, the new Regulation setting forth the procedure to record such license agreements have been published. Once recordation has been effective, it is valid for a period of five years after which, a request for recordal will need to be refilled.
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.
Also, on March 30th, the Japanese Patent Office published a Handbook on the examination of Product-by-process claims which should provide further indications to draft them in a manner acceptable for the Patent Office.
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.
Consequently, a license relating to an international registration of a mark shall be recorded in the national Register of the Office of Lao People's Democratic Republic in order to have effect in such country.
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.
In relation to trademarks, a complete amendment of the Korean Trademark Law will be effective on September 1st, 2016. Changes such as the following are introduced: (i) a less restricted definition of "trademark" is used; (ii) any person (not only the interested ones) may file a cancellation action against a trademark registration; and (iii) a trademark may be rejected if a similar mark exists at the time of the registration (prior, if it had existed at any time before the registration, it could already be basis for an objection).
TAIWAN
May 17, 2016
In April 2016, amended Guidelines for the substantive examination of design patents are applicable in Taiwan.
They have been amended to facilitate the practical implementation of the guidelines and affect, essentially, the interpretation of the disclosure of design drawings.
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.
Such electronic priority documents can replace the paper priority documents. Likewise, an applicant who first files a patent application with the KIPO and later files an application with the TIPO may also claim priority of the earlier Korean application in the same manner. In addition, this PDX program is applicable to applications with priority claims filed within 16 months prior to the launch of this program.
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.
There may be other applications which may be eligible although requests will not be accepted if the Vietnamese Office has already started examination. The program is intended to be applicable for a period of three years.
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.
These considerations take into account, among other things, (i) whether the contribution of the claimed invention is technical in nature; (ii) whether the invention solves a technical problem within the computer, (iii) whether the claimed method merely requires generic computer implementation, (iv) whether the computer is merely an intermediary or tool for performing the method or (v) whether the alleged invention lies in the way the method or scheme is carried out in a computer.
ANDORRA
February 14, 2016
As of January 25th, 2016 patent applications can be filed in Andorra. Even though the patent law had been approved back in 1999, it had never entered into force.
The new patent law in 2014 and it enables the filing of patent applications in Catalan, Spanish, French and English (Catalan translation of the claims is required). The Andorran Patent and Trademark Office will conduct merely a formal examination of the application unless there is an evident lack of novelty.
ARGENTINA
February 14, 2016
The Argentinian Congress has passed a law pursuant to which the mediation proceedings will no longer suspend the 1 year term to settle trademark oppositions. As of March 26th, 2016,
applicants will have to file a court action claiming the dismissal of the opposition before the expiration of the 1 year term if they do not want to see their application lapse.
BRAZIL
February 14, 2016
A bilateral agreement between the USPTO and BRPTO has recently been enacted allowing for a PPH request. The program will be valid for a period of two years (or until 150 US or BR priority applications are accepted by each of the offices following this program). Please note
that, as clause B-4 indicates, the Brazilian PTO is engaged in this PPH program for applications filed within the last 3 years, containing claims directed to Oil, Gas and Petrochemical inventions only. January 16th, 2016.
CHILE
February 14, 2016
On January 4th, 2016, a series of amendments were introduced to the bill of law that modifies the Health Code in order to regulate generic bioequivalent pharmaceutical products and prevent the vertical integration of pharmaceutical laboratories and pharmacies. Among other provisions
the bill sets forth that pharmaceutical companies that either manufacture or import products must provide the Ministry of Health and the Public Health Institute with information about the prices of the pharmaceutical products that are available for sale.
COSTA RICA
February 14, 2016
Costa Rican Patent Office is changing its interpretation on the calculation term to pay patent annuities. As a result, overdue annuities are to be paid retroactive from the international application date.
Before, annuity payments were calculated starting from the Costa Rican filing date (that is, the national phase entrance filing date.).
COLOMBIA
February 14, 2016
The Superintendence of Industry and Trade of Colombia has issued Resolution No.73446 of 2015, approving the new official taxes for patents, industrial models, industrial designs, trademarks, collective marks and similar, which have come into effect as of January 1st 2016. There are some
The Superintendence of Industry and Trade of Colombia has issued Resolution No.73446 of 2015, approving the new official taxes for patents, industrial models, industrial designs, trademarks, collective marks and similar, which have come into effect as of January 1st 2016. There are some
EUROPEAN UNION
February 14, 2016
On 15 December 2015 the negotiating teams of the European Parliament and the Council reached a preliminary agreement on the text of the Directive o. The Commission participated in the negotiations as a facilitator. The agreement will need to be formalized
by the European Parliament and the Council. Companies, inventors, researchers and creators will be put on equal footing throughout the Internal Market, and the EU will have a common, clear and balanced legal framework which will discourage unfair competition, and facilitate collaborative innovation and the sharing of valuable know-how to make the EU a stronger and more competitive economic region. The Directive will align existing laws against the misappropriation of trade secrets across the EU.
EUROPEAN UNION
February 14, 2016
The EU trademark reform legislative package has been approved and will enter into force on March 23rd, 2016. The OHIM will now be called EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and community trademarks will be EU trademarks (EUTM). This legislative package aims at
promoting better co-operation between the Member States, lower the cost to register and renew EU trademarks, diminish complexity, increase the speed of registration procedures and provide more legal certainty between national offices and the EUIPO.
JAPAN
February 14, 2016
Effective April 1st, 2016, fees for trademark registration and renewals are lowered as follows.
Office fee per class (JPY) Current New Reduction Registration fee for 10 years 37,600 - 28,200 - 9,400 - for 5 years 21,900 - 16,400 - 4,400 Renewal fee for 10 years 48,500 - 38,800 - 9,700 - for 5 years 28,300 - 22,600 - 5,700
LAOS
February 14, 2016
The Government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) deposited with the Director General of WIPO its instrument of accession to the Madrid Protocol for the International Registration of Marks on December 7, 2015. With this accession,
Lao PDR became the 97th member of the Madrid System. The Protocol will enter into force, with respect to Lao PDR on March 7, 2016.
MEXICO
February 14, 2016
Last November 10th, 2015, a proposal to amend the Mexican IP Law was published. The proposal needs to be studied but, if approved it will set up an opposition system for trademarks in Mexico.
As currently drafted, the opposition would be valid for a period of 1 month since the publication and it would not suspend the examination and registration process.
SAUDI ARABIA
February 14, 2016
Saudi Arabia has recently implemented new regulations on its Patent Law concerning the national stage entry of PCT patent applications. These new regulations
include the possibility of requesting extensions of time during prosecution as well as to restore abandoned or canceled patent applications. Furthermore, the international filing date will be the filing date of a PCT national entry and the base year for calculating annuities.
TURKMENISTAN
February 14, 2016
the Government of Turkmenistan deposited with WIPO its instrument of accession to the Geneva (1999) Act of the Hague Agreement
Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs. The Act will enter into force on March 16, 2016.
VENEZUELA
February 14, 2016
In accordance to recent Official Gazette 40.846, the Venezuelan Government has established a new and increased Official Tributary Unit. The Tax Unit is
a mechanism intended to confer permanence and stability across time to the amounts in bolivares (local currency) or nominal values disposed by different tributary laws. The new Tributary Unit will result in a further increase of official fees to be paid for patent and trademark filings, renewals, grant fees, changes of ownership and licenses.
VIETNAM
February 14, 2016
A PPH program will begin on April 1st, 2016 to enable accelerated patent examination based on the findings of the Japanese Patent Office.
There are currently two other ways to accelerate examination in Vietnam which had not been widely used so far. It is expected that this new route helps obtaining patents faster and reducing the back-log at the Vietnamese Patent Office.