At a recent meeting, the EPO's Administrative Council
decided to implement a number of amendments to the rules of the
European Patent Convention (EPC). The amendments will be taking
effect as of 1 April 2010.
The new amendments mean that stricter rules will apply regarding
the time limit for filing of divisional applications, i.e.
applications which contain matter of the already filed European
patent application. With the introduction of the new rule, two
types of divisional applications are distinguished: a required
application (in case of non-unity objection) and a voluntary
application filed on the applicant's own initiative. According
to the new rule, the deadline for filing the divisional application
will be either within 24 months of the communication of lack of
unity or within 24 months of the first examination report (for
voluntary divisonals).
