Member States Inch Closer to Global Harmonization of Substantive Patent Law
Geneva, May 22, 2001
Press Updates UPD/2001/132
Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) started discussions on harmonization of substantive patent law from May 14-19, 2001, at a meeting of the Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP). Once completed, this process will create the basis for a more predictable and cost-effective international patent system. Representatives from 78 WIPO member states, five international organizations and 19 non-governmental organizations attended the meeting.
The SCP discussed the first draft of the Substantive Patent Law Treaty (SPLT) which covers a number of basic legal principles that underpin the grant of patents in different countries of the world, such as the definition of prior art, novelty, inventive step (non-obviousness), industrial applicability (utility), sufficiency of disclosure, and the structure and interpretation of claims.
The present international landscape of patent law and practice is currently made up of a wide variety of legal regimes. The consequence of these divergences in patent laws and practices is that, in certain countries, a patent application may lead to the grant of a patent, whereas in others, a patent may not be granted for the same invention, or the patent may be invalidated after grant. In addition, lack of harmonization leads to increased costs for inventors and applicants, as well as for patent offices, due to duplication of work.
The work of the SCP is designed to create a more predictable, cost-effective and uniform patent system by complementing existing international structures which to date only partially achieve the objective of harmonization. The Patent Law Treaty (PLT), concluded in June 2000, harmonizes only patent procedures relating to national and regional patent applications and maintenance of patents, and although the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) contains some principles of substantive patent law applicable to the international phase of an application submitted under the PCT, countries are free to apply any substantive conditions of patentability, either during the national phase of an international application or in the course of examining national patent applications..
This initial round of discussion which was designed to promote better understanding of the concepts underlying different national laws and practices proved extremely fruitful. In terms of establishing a comprehensive and detailed overview of the issues at stake. This approach also revealed that, in certain cases, while the language of corresponding provisions used under different patent systems differed, the underlying legal principles and practices were in fact the same. The question of the interface between the draft SPLT and the PLT,as well as the PCT, was also raised and the Secretariat was requested to further study this issue.
The SCP also discussed the disclosure of information on the Internet and its impact on patentability. The SCP agreed that in the first instance, it was necessary to establish general principles concerning prior art that would also cover disclosure of information on the Internet. The Committee would then consider the need to establish special provisions specific to Internet disclosures.
The SCP decided to further discuss the draft SPLT based on revised draft provisions to be prepared by the Secretariat at its next session to be held in Geneva during the first half of November 2001
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