The European Patent Office has started a study to see whether a so-called "grace period" should be introduced into the European Patent system. Currently, the novelty requirement under the European Patent Convention (EPC) set out in Article 54 is an absolute novelty standard under which any disclosure made by the...
A Patent Grace Period for the United Kingdom?
The British trade minister Liz Truss recently announced that the UK is seeking to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade deal. The CPTPP includes a number of provisions on intellectual property (IP) and some of these will require changes to existing UK patent law. The CPTPP requires...
Patent Grace Period
Can you still patent an invention after details of the invention have been published? The answer is yes in some countries, but not in other countries. In order for an invention to be patentable, both the criteria of novelty and inventive step / non-obviousness have to be met. In general,...