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Time waits for no man: deciding when to file a patent application in Europe

Nature Biotechnology volume 25, pages 639–641 (2007)Cite this article

Guidelines for would-be patent applicants in Europe's 'first-to-file' system.

Deciding on the right time to file a patent application can be a difficult decision in any technical field, but it is particularly difficult in competitive and rapidly developing areas of biotech. Would-be patentees must make a decision whether to delay filing until a substantial amount of data have been accumulated to support the invention and risk being 'scooped' by a competitor, or alternatively file early to secure a filing date ahead of the competition and risk the patent application being rejected as lacking adequate experimental support. Choosing the right time to file is particularly difficult in jurisdictions such as Europe, which operates a 'first-to-file' rather than a 'first-to-invent' system.

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References

  1. T497/02 (27 May 2004).

  2. T792/00 (2 February 2002).

  3. T609/02 (27 October 2004).

  4. T1329/04 (28 June 2005).

  5. T293/04 (5 April 2006).

  6. T604/04 (16 March 2006).

  7. T1336/04 (9 March 2006).

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  1. Nina L. White is at Boult Wade Tennant, Verulam Gardens, 70 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1X 8BT, UK. nwhite@boult.com,

    Nina L White

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  1. Nina L White
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White, N. Time waits for no man: deciding when to file a patent application in Europe. Nat Biotechnol 25, 639–641 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0607-639

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0607-639

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