Newsletter
INVENTION PATENT EXAMINA-TION GUIDELINES UNDER AMENDMENT
The two most recent sets of amendments to the Patent Act, in 2001 and 2003, have brought about various changes in the practice of the sub-stantive examination of invention patent appli-cations. These changes include early publication (laying-open) of invention applications, request for substantive examination of invention patent applications, new definition of an invention, amended criteria for novelty requirements, and new guidelines on unity of inventions, divisional applications, etc. The Intellectual Property Of-fice (IPO) recently began revising the sections of its Patent Examination Guidelines with respect to substantive examination of invention patent ap-plications. The IPO plans to hold eight public hearings in the first quarter of 2004 to solicit opinion and suggestions from the general public. We will follow up its progress and keep readers updated.