Newsletter
FORMALITY EXAMINATION OF UTILITY MODELS
Under the newly amended Patent Act promul-gated on 6 February 2003 scheduled to come into force on 1 July 2004, new utility model patent applications will only be subject to formality examination, and after the switch to the formality examination system, there will be no procedure for reexamination. Also, under Article 135 of the amended act, patent applications for which no examination decision has been rendered at the time the amended act takes effect will be subject to the provisions of the amended act. Accord-ingly, new utility model case for which a reex-amination decision is still pending on 1 July 2004 will be subject to formality examination instead of substantive examination.
On 26 September 2003, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) issued an announcement giving information about the above matters, and calling on all concerned to prepare themselves for the coming changes. The IPO stated that since the promulgation of the amended act, it has taken steps to accelerate processing of pending new utility model reexaminations, but it seems unlikely to complete the examination for peti-tions filed on or after 1 November 2003 by the time the amended act takes effect on 1 July 2004, and cases that are still pending at that time will instead be subject to formality examination.