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To adapt to the entry into force of the Law of Administrative Proceedings, the IPO, on 31 October 2000, announced amendments to its Regulations Governing Patent Interviews. The main points of the amendments are as follows:
The relevant wording is amended to make the regulations internal rules of the IPO applicable to its patent examiners.
Under the old regulations, a party wishing to apply for an interview had to make an appli-cation during the examination period, (before a decision was rendered). Since this provision affects people's rights and duties, it should not be regulated by administrative rules, and has therefore been deleted.
Under the old regulations, limits were placed on the number of persons attending an inter-view. Since this provision may be regarded as affecting people's rights and duties, it has been deleted. Under the new guidelines, persons having a connection with the concerned case may be present at an interview with the per-mission of the IPO in addition to those offi-cially attending; provided that this does not obstruct the progress of the interview. Where the patent examiner in charge of the concerned case is unable to attend an interview, the IPO may appoint another person connected with patent examination to conduct the interview instead.
The old regulations limited the length of each interview to one hour. To protect people's interests, the amended regulations allow an interview to be extended by one hour at the request of the interviewee and with the con-sent of the examiner.
Under the old regulations, where an inter-viewee needed to add to, reduce or alter the notified content of an interview, a prior con-sent from the examiner was required. The above provision regulated actions of appli-cants, and should not be included in adminis-trative rules. It has therefore been deleted.
Under the old regulations, where a party failed to appear at the IPO to attend the interview as notified, with a consent of the examiner, a new time could be set for the interview, but only once. The above limit on the number of re-schedulings should not be included in ad-ministrative rules, and has therefore been de-leted.
Under the old regulations, where an interview was extended by agreement of the examiner, the parties had to first pay the official fee for the extended time before continuing with the interview; where a party did not appear at the IPO to attend the interview as notified, or where an interview was cancelled in accor-dance with the regulations, fees already paid could not be refunded. The above provisions affect people's rights, which cannot be regu-lated by administrative rules; they have therefore been deleted.
