Question & AnswerQ&A (IPO ERRATUM TO THE REVISED IMPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR PATENTS, UTILITY MODELS AND INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS WHICH WAS PUBLISHED IN THE MANILA TIMES NEWSPAPER ISSUED ON APRIL 26, 201)
The enabling disclosure must contain a clear and detailed description of at least one way of doing the invention using working examples. It must also include a sufficient and clear disclosure of the technical features of the invention including the manner or process of making, performing, and using the invention, leaving nothing to conjecture.
The disclosure must include one or more representative embodiments or working examples, a description of the pharmacological test results in the case of pharmaceutical subject matter, and all compounds must include their claimed activity.
The term of a patent shall be twenty (20) years from the filing date of the application.
A patent ceases to be in force if any prescribed annual fees are not paid within the prescribed time or if the patent is canceled in accordance with the provisions of the IP Code and its Regulations.
The first annual fee on a patent is due and payable on the expiration of four (4) years from the date the application is published, and on each subsequent anniversary of that date.
The application is published on the date that the IPOPHL E-Gazette containing the application is released to circulation.
A notice of non-payment will be published in the IPOPHL E-Gazette and mailed to the patent owner or applicant. A six (6) month grace period follows during which the annual fee plus surcharges and publication fees must be paid in full or the patent/applicant's application will be deemed withdrawn or lapsed.
The obligation to pay annual fees terminates if the application is withdrawn, refused, or canceled.
The application can be published immediately after filing if the description, claim, and drawings comply with the regulations, fees are fully paid, priority documents are submitted if claimed, and all other formal office requirements are met.
The provisions on 'Time for Response by Applicant' and 'Withdrawal of Application' as provided for in Part 9, Rules 928, 929, 929.1, and 930 of the Regulations for Patents apply mutatis mutandis to utility models and industrial designs.
The provisions on the 'Reconstitution of Application File Wrappers' as provided for in Part 9, Rule 931 of the Regulations for Patents apply mutatis mutandis to utility models and industrial designs.