Patent law: the grace is on?

10 June 2022

Issue: 7982 / Categories: Features , Patents

Where does UK patent law stand on grace periods for disclosure? Phillip Johnson assesses the changing landscape

Under UK patent law, grace periods are very limited, meaning that any disclosure of an invention made before the priority date will undermine the novelty of the patent.
The UK is trying to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, but to do so it will need to resolve a conflict it creates with its membership of the European Patent Convention.

Whether to give inventors a general grace period so that they can safely disclose the invention and not lose the right to a patent has been a topic of international interest for decades. The issue can be stated by the following scenario: a person turns up at a patent attorney’s office and says: ‘I have just invented the best thing ever. I described it to all my friends in the pub last night and they all agree I should patent it.’ The patent attorney interrupts to say it is not patentable. Now

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content

If you are already a subscriber sign in

...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

Patent law: the grace is on?

Where does UK patent law stand on grace periods for disclosure? Phillip Johnson assesses the changing landscape

Under UK patent law, grace periods are very limited, meaning that any disclosure of an invention made before the priority date will undermine the novelty of the patent.
The UK is trying to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, but to do so it will need to resolve a conflict it creates with its membership of the European Patent Convention.

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content

If you are already a subscriber sign in

...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

SourceURL:

Links:

E-newsletter Sign-Up

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS

Read All

NLJ this week: Small firms call for tech clarity as AI looms

Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ

NLJ this week: Traders’ convictions quashed in Libor shock

The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement

NLJ this week: Fraud claims climb as courts brace for AI threats

Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes

NLJ this week: Pro bono power without the red tape

Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ

NLJ this week: Trans pool player loses discrimination fight

Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ

Error message

Patent law: the grace is on?

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan