The Regulations for Ratifying Extension of Patent Term were amended three times since they entered into force on January 1, 1997. The date of the most recent amendment is January 1, 2013. In order to implement the institutional purpose of extending the patent term and to simplify the application process, the Regulations for Ratifying Extension of Patent Term were amended again. The main points of the amendments are as follows:
1. Deletion of Article 5, Item 2 (If the request for patent term extension is based on the time period of clinical trials in a foreign country, in addition to the documents specified in the preceding paragraph, in the event that a patent term extension based on these clinic trials has been requested and granted in a foreign country, document(s) proving the such extension shall also be provided.)
2. Deletion of Article 6, Item 3 (The longest among the time periods taken for the field tests shall be considered as the time period for conducting domestic and/or foreign field tests referred to in Subparagraph 1, Paragraph 1. However, if the field tests are sequential, the time taken for each test may be added up for calculation of the time period allowable for patent term extension.)
3. Deletion of Article 7, Item 2 (If the request for patent term extension is based on the time period of field tests in a foreign country, in addition to the documents specified in the preceding paragraph, in the event that a patent term extension based on these field tests has been requested and granted in a foreign country, document(s) proving such extension shall also be provided.)
The above deletions entered into force on April 1, 2018.
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[1] Patent Attorney and Chief in Patent Division