A niche blog dedicated to the issues that arise when supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) extend patents beyond their normal life -- and to the respective positions of patent owners, investors, competitors and consumers. The blog also addresses wider issues that may be of interest or use to those involved in the extension of patent rights. You can email The SPC Blog here

Friday, 29 May 2015

Reliable information on non-EU and non-US patent term extension: can you help?

I have been approached by a correspondent who has posed the following question:
Can you recommend a reference work or website that can provide reliable information as to the availability and rules surrounding Patent Term Extensions or Supplementary Patent Protection in countries other than the US or Europe?
Offhand, I couldn't think of one, though I'm sure that one must exist somewhere -- and one certainly should if none has yet been compiled.

Can readers of this weblog make any recommendations or point our correspondent to an appropriate source -- in English or in any other language?

6 comments:

Paul Brady said...

I would recommend Markgraf for this: I bought it after seeing it advertised on the SPC blog late last year: http://thespcblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/patent-term-extensions-new-book-hot-off.html

It includes EU and US, but also Japan Australia, Israel, Korea, Russia, Switzerland, Singapore, Taiwan and in the free trade agreement between the U.S. and the Central American countries. Each chapter is written by a pair of correspondents from the country in question. It is bilingual in German and English, with German on the left hand side and English on the right hand side of each page. That means that the book is twice as thick as it needs to be, but it does double up as a dictionary of specialist terms, which can probably be useful...

Anonymous said...

See the handbook "Ergänzende Schutzzertifikate - Patent Term Extensions" by Arne Markgraf, including USA, Japan, EU, Germany, Korea, Taiwan, Switzerland, Australia, Israel, Russia and Singapore, ISBN 978-3-8329-6476-4, 2015, 540 p., 134 €

Anonymous said...

Regarding Japan, there is an English version of the examination guideline including patent term extension on the Japan Patent Office's website:

Examination Guidelines for Patent and Utility Model in Japan>Part Ⅵ Patent Term Extension
https://www.jpo.go.jp/tetuzuki_e/t_tokkyo_e/1312-002_e.htm

Anonymous said...

The country-specific entries in Arnold & Siedsma's 'Manual for the Handling of Applications for Patents, Designs and Trade Marks Throughout the World' (available on Kluwer IP Law) is usually my go-to reference.

We have access through our firm though, so I have no idea what access options are available or pricing.

Darren Smyth said...

Sorry I am a bit late on this one, but Chapter 17 of Duncan Bucknell's excellent two-volume treatise "Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, and Chemical Inventions" is dedicated to the topic. As well as the EU and a number of individual EU countries, there are sections of Australia, Canada, China, India and Japan. I reviewed the work back in 2012 for the PatLit weblog.

http://patlit.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/pharmaceutical-biotechnology-and.html

I hope that helps.

Darren

Anonymous said...

Is anyone aware of reliable and good resources for Eurasian Patent Extensions? The information in '"Ergänzende Schutzzertifikate - Patent Term Extensions" by Arne Markgraf, including USA, Japan, EU, Germany, Korea, Taiwan, Switzerland, Australia, Israel, Russia and Singapore, ISBN 978-3-8329-6476-4, 2015, 540 p., 134 €' is very limited