The Blessed Software Glitch: When A Deadline May Not Actually Be – A Deadline

If you have ever accompanied the prosecution of a patent application in Israel, you may be somewhat familiar with what happens when you miss a deadline for responding to an office action (OA). If this has never happened to you, here's a short recap:

Issuance of a Notice Prior to Refusal

Close to the latest date* by which a response was to have been filed (on the assumption that such late response would have included a retroactive request for an extension), the Israel Patent Office (the "Office") issues a "PK 10" notice, informally referred to as a Notice Prior to Refusal (NPR).

*The above-mentioned "latest date" is based on the facility to obtain an extension for responding to the specific OA, as follows: