It’s a sort of sad discussion topic, but it comes up in the Internet discussion groups every few months. Here’s an example:
Do any of you know of countries outside the US that have a “grace period” after a public disclosure of an invention for filing a patent application in the country directed to the invention?
Sad because one wishes that the would-be inventor had consulted competent counsel before permitting the public disclosure to occur.
So, what’s the answer? Wouldn’t it be nice if, all in once place, somebody has compiled a list of countries with grace periods?
This question came up the other day (yet again!) in the PCT Listserv, and alert listserv member Miriam Paton had a very helpful answer:
WIPO maintains an extensive list of all grace periods.
A PCT filer might wish to use Declaration Five to communicate the grace period claim with respect to particular designations.
Carl,
I reviewed the WIPO list of grace periods for countries around the world but there seems to be a recent update for Japan . It appears that Japan has just extended the grace period from six months to one year, as of June 2018, according to this article: https://www.ondatechno.com/English/ip/patent/report/20180605.html
This extension to one year applies to applications filed on or after June 9, 2018, according to that article.
I don’t see how you can trust the WIPO list when the information for the US is way outdated.