On 6 August 2026, the USPTO Appeals Review Panel (ARP) issued its rehearing decision in Ex parte Baurin, reinstating an obviousness-type double patenting (OTDP) rejection. The panel treated the anti-harassment rationale as independently relevant: even where there is no apparent unjustified extension of patent term, OTDP may still address the risk that commonly owned patent rights later become divided and asserted separately.Continue reading with a member accountRegister free to unlock full analysis and practical recommendations.Log InRegister

The Australian Government has further detailed its latest IP systems simplification package, with two changes standing out for applicants and rights holders. The first would replace the current Time to Acceptance model with a more responsive examination timetable, closer in spirit to the US approach. In practice, patent applicants could face shorter reply windows after an examination report, such as a two-month period for response, alongside tighter limits on the number of formal replies.The second proposal would allow patents and designs to use “virtual marking” through QR codes, barcodes...

With Indonesia’s Ministerial Regulation No. 6 of 2026 now fully in force, DJKI has used its online filing system this week to issue a practical warning: any excess claims fees for new patent applications must be paid in full at the time of filing. The message is procedural, but its effect is immediate. Claim counting, specification drafting and payment checks now need to be handled as one filing task, not as separate follow-up items.For applicants, the main risk is not simply a higher official fee. It is the loss of room to correct a fee gap after the application has entered the system....

The German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) has put digital technologies back at the centre of the patent debate. Its recent trend analysis shows continued growth in patent applications linked to digital key technologies, with particularly visible movement in computer technology, audiovisual technology and related fields. Within those categories, generative AI, machine learning, virtual modelling and industrial digital twins are becoming harder to separate from one another.The point is not simply that more AI-related applications are being filed. The more practical issue is that DPMA’s...

Bahrain’s Intellectual Property Office has reported that its IP portal, previously disrupted by a technical failure, is now fully restored. The authority has also clarified that late filings caused by the service interruption will not attract late fees and should not prejudice core deadlines such as priority claims; affected users should now complete any pending steps through the online system as soon as possible.The practical message is reassuring but not a reason to slow down. The temporary allowance to submit certified legal documents, including powers of attorney, within three months...

The Japan Patent Office has updated its PPH anniversary information, reporting that 56 intellectual property offices had implemented the Patent Prosecution Highway by April 2026. The programme began as a JPO–USPTO pilot in July 2006 and has since become a familiar tool for applicants seeking to reuse positive examination results across jurisdictions.The latest figures also show 29 offices participating in the Global PPH framework, for which JPO serves as secretariat. For applicants managing parallel filings, the practical message is clear: PPH planning should sit closer to the filing and...

Canada’s patent term adjustment (PTA) regime is now a practical post-grant issue for patent owners. The Canadian Intellectual Property Office has opened the route for requesting additional patent term where statutory conditions are met, including for patents granted after 1 December 2025. Because the request period is generally tied to a three-month deadline from grant, the first wave of deadline management will become visible in March 2026.The change deserves attention, but not every Canadian patent will justify a PTA request. Owners should first check whether the relevant delay is...

On 8 July 2026, during WIPO’s 68th series of meetings of the Assemblies, Tanzania’s Deputy Permanent Representative in Geneva, Ambassador Hoyce Temu, spoke in the country’s national capacity and aligned Tanzania with statements delivered by South Africa for the African Group and Nepal for the Least Developed Countries Group. Tanzania called for a more inclusive, balanced and forward-looking intellectual property system, arguing that artificial intelligence could accelerate innovation and economic transformation only if developing economies also gain practical access to capacity building,...

Developments reported around 8 July 2026 by the Israel Patent Office and in related case law further clarify the boundary for software- and AI-related patent claims. Following the position confirmed in the 2026 DABUS decision, an inventor named in an Israeli patent application must still be a natural person. On patent eligibility, merely implementing business logic, administrative processes or abstract rules with AI is unlikely to be enough. Applicants need to link the algorithm to a specific technical problem, system architecture and measurable result, such as stronger data security, lower...

Congress has approved H.R. 6500, extending the USPTO's America Invents Act fee-setting authority through 11 December 2026. Without congressional action, that authority would have expired after 15 September. The short extension removes the immediate risk of a statutory gap and gives lawmakers several more months to decide whether the Office should retain longer-term flexibility to set patent and trademark fees.The more consequential issue is what Congress may demand in return. At a 2 September House Judiciary subcommittee hearing, lawmakers and witnesses tied the renewal debate to the Patent...

IP Australia implemented its second-half 2026 patent fee changes on 1 August, with a sharp increase in excess claim fees for applications carrying large claim sets, particularly once the number of claims exceeds 20. The change is likely to alter how PCT applicants approach Australian national phase entry: retaining broad, heavily layered claim sets without early consolidation may now create a noticeably higher cost at the outset.At the same time, the new Green and Low-Carbon Technology Patent Fast Track offers a different incentive. Eligible inventions in areas such as clean energy, carbon...

IP Australia’s 2026 Australian Intellectual Property Report shows that trademark filings reached a record 97,345 in 2025, up 13.3%, while applications by Australian residents rose 15.1% to 55,913. Domestic standard complete patent filings also increased, from 2,578 to 2,810, a gain of 9.0%. Taken together, the patent, trademark and design data suggest that Australian businesses are making more deliberate use of IP to support branding, technology protection and product differentiation.The growth was not evenly distributed across filing origins. Standard patent applications from the United...

The EPO’s 2026 Guidelines for Examination took effect in April, and a continuing series of Marks & Clerk analyses has highlighted three procedural changes with immediate practical relevance. PACE requests for accelerated search have been withdrawn because the EPO now treats timely search reports as part of its normal workflow, although accelerated examination under PACE remains available. Applicants therefore have less reason to focus on expediting search and more reason to prepare early for the transition from the search opinion into substantive examination.The treatment of amendments has...

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have jointly released AI-enabled Health Innovation and IP: From idea to impact. Developed under the Global Initiative on AI for Health, the publication is designed for innovators, start-ups, research institutions and partners seeking to move AI-based health technologies from early development to practical deployment. It covers patents, trade secrets, copyright and data protection, alongside licensing, collaboration, regulation, health-data governance...

The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore introduced a phased fee revision, with most changes taking effect on 1 September 2025 and the remaining measures applying from 1 April 2026. For patents, excess-claim fees under Forms PF11 and PF12 now begin above 15 claims rather than 20, while the charge has increased from S$40 to S$80 per excess claim. From April 2026, certain excess-claim payments linked to relevant examination requests filed on or after 1 September 2025 are also brought forward to the PF13A response stage. Extension requests across IP procedures are no longer free for the...

According to a USPTO announcement and Ghanaian reporting published on 14 July, the Ghana Industrial Property Office (GHIPO), under the Office of the Registrar of Companies, and the United States Patent and Trademark Office signed a statement of intent in Geneva on 9 July 2026 concerning an Accelerated Patent Grant (APG) arrangement. Ghana is the first African country to move forward with this type of cooperation with the USPTO. Under the proposed mechanism, an applicant holding a granted US patent and a corresponding Ghanaian application may request accelerated grant in Ghana, while GHIPO...

The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) moved ahead with phase two of its One IPO digital patent service on 6 August 2026. The new stage pushes patent filing further toward structured electronic data and away from paper and conventional PDF forms. It also introduces dedicated metadata for AI-assisted drafting and inventorship, bringing the use of AI tools into the data checks performed during formalities examination.The practical effect is clearest for applicants filing at scale through APIs or automated workflows. If a submission package omits the required AI-use declaration or...

WIPO’s latest PCT practice update confirms that The Bahamas deposited its instrument of accession on 19 May 2026 and will become bound by the Patent Cooperation Treaty on 19 August 2026, bringing the system to 159 Contracting States. Any international application filed on or after that date will automatically include the designation of The Bahamas under country code BS. The country has also made a declaration under Article 64(5), stating that it does not consider itself bound by Article 59 on the referral of inter-State disputes to the International Court of Justice.For applicants, the...

On 14 July 2026, the World Intellectual Property Organization announced that the PCT Assembly had approved the appointment of the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) as an International Searching Authority (ISA) and International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) under the Patent Cooperation Treaty. Once operational, IMPI will become the 26th PCT International Authority and the third in Latin America and the Caribbean. In practical terms, it will be able to issue international search reports and written opinions, and to carry out international preliminary examination when...

On 30 July 2026, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued an official notice designating the severe earthquake that struck Japan on 28 July as an “extraordinary situation” under 37 CFR 1.183, 2.146(a)(5) and 2.148. Depending on the proceeding, affected patent and trademark applicants, patent owners, reexamination parties and trademark registrants may request measures such as restarting an unexpired response period, waiving certain petition fees or maintenance-fee surcharges, or obtaining relief from delays caused by the disaster. For trademark matters, the notice also...