Newsletter – March 2008 The Israeli Ministry of Justice and the Patents Authority Initiate Changes to the Israeli Patent Law The Consultation and Legislation Department at the Ministry of Justice, in collaboration with the Patents Authority, informed that various changes to the patent law are being considered. The following is a summary of what is being considered: Publication of applications Under current Israeli law and practice, Israeli applications are only published (for opposition) after examination is completed and the application is allowed. Until such publication, the file of the application at the IL PTO is closed for public inspection. Bibliographic details of patent applications are published shortly after filing (under Sec. 16 of the Law). According to the proposed amendment, applications will be published after 18 months from the priority date. This will make the publication date of Israeli applications in concert with publication dates of counterparts in other countries. Whether or not any types of applications may be excluded is yet to be decided. Also, whether the preliminary publication under Sec. 16 of the Law (which only publishes formal details of the application) is to be maintained or cancelled has not yet been concluded. Third party observations At present, it is not possible to submit thirds party observations. The revision committee is considering an amendment of the regulations, according to which it may be possible for third parties to submit observations after the 18-months publication. Accelerating examination by third parties Currently, under certain circumstances, applicant may apply for accelerated examination. Such circumstances are usually ongoing infringement or likelihood of infringement. The revision committee is considering whether accelerated examination may be requested by a third party. Voluntary amendments to the specification The revision committee is also considering this topic. The questions are whether amendments to the specification should be disallowed altogether or restricted in view of the proposed 18-months publication. Pre-examination opposition This is another issue that has been raised, namely, whether any third party may file an opposition, e.g. within three months from the date of publication of the application, so that the resulting opposition procedure, when initiated, would replace normal examination of the application. Damages According to Section 179 of the Law, in case of infringement, damages may be claimed retroactively, as from the day of publication of the acceptance of the patent application. In view of the proposed change in publication practice, possible questions are whether Section 179 should be retained in its present form, or whether it should be possible to claim damages as from the date of the 18-months publication. Within this context, the scope of granted claims vs. published claims should be considered. For a full translation of the proposed/considered changes follow this link