Mandatory fields for divisional filings (1001)

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Kelly Hill
Posts: 27
Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2004 2:23 pm
Location: Southampton, UK

Mandatory fields for divisional filings (1001)

Post by Kelly Hill » Tue Apr 06, 2010 2:29 pm

Hi

I was really surprised and disappointed to see that there are now mandatory fields when filing a divisional application (form 1001).

I don't have a problem with mandatory fields in general as they can be very useful for checking information that MUST be sent on a filing is completed. But these new fields are asking us to choose whether we are filing a voluntary OR mandatory divisional (what happens if we are filing one which could be both?) AND to put in a date for the communication which triggers the 24 month deadline.

I am guessing the reasoning is that by making us enter a date, online filing can then check that we are filing the application within 24 months of that date. But it's deciding the date which is difficult, not working out 24 months from that date. At the moment we have lots of files which do not say explicitly that a communication has started the voluntary or mandatory deadline (I'm not even sure the EPO intend to make this clear in the future). Will the EPO contact us if they disagree with the date we have calculated? Will they advise us after we have filed a divisional application that in fact we have longer than we thought in which to file a divisional?

I always thought the level of severity on a field was an indication of whether you could file the application successfully and get a filing date (as far it is possible to determine automatically). Therefore as far as I understood it:
Severity 1 - show stoppers, don't complete the field you won't get a filing date;
Severity 2 - you can file this information late, but you might have to pay additional fees for fililng it late, information usually has a deadline attached to it;
Severity 3 - it would be nice for you to complete this information, but there is no necessity to complete it in order to get a filing date.
Surely the new fields should be severity 3? I have looked at the Rules and I can not see anywhere which says WE have to tell the EPO what the deadline is.

Sorry for such a long post but things like this make it very difficult for me to convince other people in my company that online filing is really the only kind of filing we should be doing.

Kelly


twesthues
Posts: 154
Joined: Mon Oct 13, 2003 1:44 pm
Location: Munich
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Re: Mandatory fields for divisional filings (1001)

Post by twesthues » Mon Apr 19, 2010 9:32 am

Hi Kelly,

can you please send an official query/complaint to our support so that this gets the appropriate attention. Whether or not I agree with you is nothing I would post here as I'm bound by the official decisions.

Kind regards,
Thorsten
at your service for the EPO Online Services Team!


Kelly Hill
Posts: 27
Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2004 2:23 pm
Location: Southampton, UK

Re: Mandatory fields for divisional filings (1001)

Post by Kelly Hill » Mon Apr 19, 2010 9:49 am

Thanks Thorsten

I have sent in an official request, just know sometimes the forum will get a response with a work around.

Kelly
Kelly Hill


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