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Legislative Implementation of Flexibilities - Iceland

Title:Articles 15, 16 and 19 of the Patents Act No. 17/1991 as last amended by Law no. 167/2007 and Articles 26-28 of Regulations thereto
Field of IP:Patents
Type of flexibility:Substantive examination
Summary table:PDF

Provisions of Law

Article 15

If the applicant has not complied with the requirements regarding the application, or if the Patent Authority finds other obstacles to the allowance of the application, the applicant shall be notified thereof and be requested within a specified term to explain his case or make corrections to the application. The Patent Authority may, however, without consulting the applicant, make such changes in the abstract as it deems necessary.

If the applicant fails, within the stipulated term, to render a statement or to take measures to overcome the objections raised, the application shall be dismissed. Notice of this shall be given in accordance with Paragraph 1.

A dismissed application will be reinstated if, within four months from the expiration of the specified term, the applicant submits a statement or takes measures to overcome the objections and, within the same term, pays the prescribed resuming fee.

If renewal fees according to Articles 8, 41 and 42 are not paid, the application shall be dismissed without further notification. Applications which have been dismissed on these grounds shall not be reinstated.

Article 16

If, after having received the applicant's statement, the Patent Authority still has objections to the allowance of the application, and the applicant has had an opportunity to submit a statement on the objections, the application shall be refused, unless there are found reasons to give the applicant another opportunity to state his case or amend his application according to Paragraph 1, Article 15.

Article 19

If the application is in accordance with applicable rules and no obstacles to the grant of a patent are found, and the applicant has given his approval to the text of the forthcoming patent, the Patent Authority shall notify the applicant that the patent can be granted upon payment of the fee prescribed for the publication of the patent document.

After the Patent Authority has sent the notification provided for in the first paragraph, the patent claims may not be amended so as to broaden the scope of the protection stated by the patent.

The publication fee shall be paid within two months of the date of notification of the Patent Authority provided for in the first paragraph. In default thereof, the application shall be dismissed. The processing of such application shall be resumed, however, if within four months after the expiration of this period of time the applicant pays the publication fee and the prescribed resumption fee.

An inventor applying for a patent himself may, within the time specified in the third paragraph, request exemption from payment of the publication fee. The Patent Authority may grant such exemption if the applicant may be regarded as having considerable difficulties in paying the fee. If such a request is refused, a fee paid within two months of the date of refusal shall be considered to have been paid within the proper time limit.

Regulations

Article 26

Patent applications must be examined in respect of novelty and patentability, cf. Art. 2 of the Patents Act.

A novelty search must take everything that is known into consideration, including published patent applications that have been made available to the public, patents, and other available information and documents if thought necessary. It is permissible to rely on results from foreign institutions which have searched for novelty and patentability.

Article 27

The Patent Office may under Article 69 of the Patent Act come to an agreement with a foreign patent institution for assistance with novelty search and examination of patent applications.

The Patent Office may also consult external experts if this is considered necessary in order to come to a decision on a patent application.

Article 28

The Patent Office may require that an applicant submit a model, sample, or the like or that he carry out research or experiments, if this is considered necessary in order to come to a decision on a patent application.

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