China
On January 20, 2024, significant changes to the law came into force in China at short notice.
An application can now be filed in China claiming priority 14 months after the priority date (i.e. not 12 months) if reasons are given. No special circumstances are required.
In order to curb abuse by Chinese applications/patents that are copies of documents or foreign patent applications of competitors, an application/patent can be rejected or revoked for breach of good faith.
Delayed examination can now be requested by one, two or three years for patents, one year for utility models and up to three years for designs, although the request can also be withdrawn.
As in the USA, Chinese patents will in future run longer upon request if the examination procedure was unusually slow on the part of the patent office (grant later than four years after filing or three years after filing the request for examination).
UK
It is essential that UK domestic representatives are appointed for trademarks and designs, because since January 1, 2024, a notice will be sent to the owner or former representative outside the UK in the event of an attack against a trademark/design, but if a domestic representative is not appointed within just one month, the trademark/design will be canceled.
Italy
Double protection through a national Italian patent and a parallel European patent is now possible. Since the Italian Patent and Trademark Office is less formalistic than the EPO in terms of clarity and original disclosure, it is advisable to position a parallel national patent application in Italy for important inventions. For example, a PCT application can be transferred directly to an Italian national application (and also in parallel to an EP application).
Questions?
If you have any questions about this topic, please contact Thomas Kitzhofer.