Patent Law Harmonization: The Current Situation and Alternatives Available (Part I)

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It is hoped that this rather comprehensive review, of patent law harmonization treaty work in process, will help organizations and individuals evaluate the current situation and prepare recommendations for their representatives, governmental and nongovernmental, who will participate in the final meeting, and in later stages of the treaty process. There is great value in reviewing several reports on this meeting. WIPO has published a report summarizing the 7th meeting of experts on patent law harmonization (more than 90 pages, organized on a day-by-day basis). The present article was drafted independently, from meeting documents and notes taken during attendance at the 7th meeting, without relying on the WIPO report as a primary source.Section I of this article includes a brief explanation of the WIPO treaty process. Section II gives an overview of how a patent system would function with the proposed changes. A chart, keyed to the draft treaty articles, is included to show the functional role of each provision. While this article assumes some knowledge of developments in prior meetings and basic international patent law, it is written for general patent specialists and business persons who want to know what is going on at the patent harmonization meetings. Section III (in Part II of this article, appearing in a subsequent issue) is a detailed review of the 7th meeting discussions, based on first-hand observations, organized by the draft treaty articles. The reader will find it convenient to refer to the Section II chart for a particular topic and article number, and to look up that article in Section III for more information.