Missed deadline? Restoration of patent (application) may be still possible

Of course, you never miss a deadline. All your people are skilled and trained and all safety checks are  in place. However, these things do happen. In many cases (but not all) it may be possible to remedy this situation by filing a restoration request in the Netherlands or at the European Patent Office.

Act quickly - restoration period

The general rule is that a Restoration Request, which is also referred to as a Request for Re-establishment of Rights or Restitutio in Integrum, must be filed within 2 months after the lapse is first established. However, this time limit may be considerably shorter because in general there is also a cut-off point – depending on the case this ranges from between 2-12 months - calculated from the missed deadline. Moreover, the case has to be presented in as much detail as possible from the start because it is not always possible to add further information at a later stage. For all these reasons it is important to act quickly and to not waste valuable time.

Requirements for successful Restoration of patent

In order to be successful in a Restoration of patent, it is essential to prove that the ‘all due care’ requirement has been met. In general this boils down to describing the administrative procedures in place at the parties concerned and explaining that these are safe and solid when it comes to foreseeable errors and showing that the missed deadline is due to an excusable error.

Our expert

Over the years Yme has been involved in numerous Restoration Cases. His experience, his eye for detail and his interest in administrative architectures all ensure that he is very successful in restoration of patents.