A patent applicant or patent owner who has suffered loss of rights for not taking a measure required by us on time, despite the fact that he or she has taken all due care required by the circumstances, can request that we declare the measure as taken on time anyway, according to section 72 of the Patents Act.

Request for a declaration

Simplified that means if you, for example, have not paid the annual fee plus the increase or not reinstated a patent application on time, you can pay the annual fee or request reinstatement afterwards. At the same time, you must request a declaration according to section 72 of the Patents Act, that PRV should consider the measure taken on time, and you must pay the special fee for our processing of your request.

You must also attach an account of why the measure was not taken on time. If possible, regardless of which reasons you state, it can be appropriate to attach documents that support your account.

Based on the information you provide, PRV will assess whether you have proved that your mistake was not due to carelessness or ignorance.

Within two months

A precondition for PRV to be able to process your request is that it is received within two months of the date you were notified of the measure not being taken on time. If more than one year has passed since the latest date that the measure should have been taken, PRV cannot accept your request for processing.

More information

The Patents Act