International patent law harmonisation discussions get ahead

Heads of Offices and representatives from Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, the UK, the USA and the EPO participated in a meeting that took place near Munich on 19/20 April 2012, with the aim of considering steps to advance patent law harmonisation.

A group composed by technical and legal experts has been mandated to carry out a detailed comparative analysis of national and regional patent laws in various jurisdictions to evaluate the extent of harmonisation achieved and carry out studies on the following technical issues:

• Grace period
• 18-month publication
• Prior art effect of secret prior art
• Prior user rights

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