News
- EPO Deadline for Divisional Applications
- On 1st April 2010, the European Patent Office introduced new practice procedures relating to Divisional Applications. Under the previous practice regime, an applicant had the opportunity to file a divisional application at any stage during the pendency of the parent application (which itself could have been a divisional application)...
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- Enlarged Board of Appeal Decision G03/08
- On 12th May 2010, the Enlarged Board of Appeal issued their much-anticipated opinion relating to the patentability of programs for computers. Unfortunately, the opinion did not quite live up to the hype...
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- Fast-Track for 'Green' Technology Applications
- Several patent offices have now introduced a fast-track prosecution and grant procedure for applications in the area of "Green" Technology. One of the traditional bugbears of the patent system is the length of time it takes for a patent to be granted. Applicants are often unable to fully exploit their technology until a patent...
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- Supreme Court Rule on Bilski
- On 28th June 2010, the US Supreme Court delivered its opinion in the Bilski v. Kappos case. The Court affirmed the Federal Circuits decision to reject Bilski’s patent application which related to a method of hedging risks, however the Court stopped far short of rejecting business method and software patents generally as some had feared...
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