Consultation outcome

Proposed changes to the Patents Rules

From:: Intellectual Property Office
Published: 29 February 2016
Last updated: 2 August 2016 — See all updates

Read the full outcome

Government response: Proposed changes to the Patents Rules

PDF, 232 KB, 14 pages

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Impact Assessment: changes to the Patents Rules

PDF, 246 KB, 5 pages

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Detail of outcome

The IPO published a consultation on various proposed amendments to the Patents Rules on 29 February 2016. The government would like to thank all respondents for their contributions.

The above response document summarises the outcome of the consultation and sets out the government’s response to the points raised by respondents.

Having weighed up all the responses received, the government intends to introduce legislative changes to bring all eleven proposals into effect at the earliest opportunity.

Original consultation

Consultation description

We are seeking views on various proposed amendments to the Patents Rules 2007. The Rules govern the detail of the patent application and post-grant processes, and the changes proposed are intended to simplify processes for customers, increase legal certainty, and take account of modern ways of working. Many of the changes proposed are in response to suggestions made by users of the patent system.

We are also asking for evidence on how the proposals will work in practice, to inform our assumptions about economic impacts.

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