Common summary of user proposals for patent harmonisation

The UK is a member of an informal forum of 45 countries discussing substantive patent law harmonisation called ‘Group B+’. All 38 parties of the European Patent Convention (EPC) participate in Group B+. EPC parties have agreed to undertake a co-ordinated European consultation seeking views on proposals from user groups.

We are seeking views on these user group proposals to harmonise patent rules on grace period, prior user rights and conflicting applications. Your views will help further discussion on these topics within ‘Group B+.

The common document linked below provides a summary of proposals on substantive patent law harmonisation from:

1. AIPPI (International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property)
2. FICPI (International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys)
3. IT3 (Industry Trilateral) consisting of:

• American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA)

• Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO)

• BusinessEurope

• Japan Intellectual Property Association (JIPA)

If you require more information, the full proposals can be found at:

• IT3 Elements Paper (2020) (PDF, 608 KB)
• FICPI Position Paper (2018)
• AIPPI Resolutions on: Grace period (2013), Prior user rights (2014) and Conflicting applications (2018)