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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 Late Submissions of Patent Documents. The main points of the amendments are as follows:
The relevant wording is changed to make the regulations internal rules of the IPO applicable to its patent examiners.
Under the old regulations, where it was found in patent applications, reexamination cases, opposition actions or cancellation actions that additional documents were required, the ap-plicant or the party concerned had to submit all such documents together on one occasion. The above limitation to a single submission affects the rights and duties of the people, and as such should not be regulated by adminis-trative rules. It has therefore been deleted.
Article 41 Paragraph 2 and Article 72 Para-graph 4 of the Patent Law provide that an opposition or cancellation petitioner must submit reasons and evidence in support of an opposition or cancellation action within one month after filing such an action. The above time limit is not an invariable time limit, and consideration of reasons and evidence sub-mitted beyond the one-month time limit should not be refused merely on the ground that the time limit has expired. Therefore the relevant provisions are amended to require the IPO to consider such reasons and evidence even when submitted after the above one-month time limit has expired, regardless whether they are of a supplementary nature or new reasons and new evidence.
