Resolution of the World Congress and Executive Committee Cannes, France, 25 to 29 September 2022
“Flexible approach for missed deadlines and other mistakes”
FICPI, the International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys, broadly representative of the free profession throughout the world, assembled at its World Congress and Executive Committee held in Cannes, France, 25 to 29 September 2022, passed the following resolution:
NOTING that during the Covid-19 pandemic, IP Offices granted extensions of time and/or reinstated IP rights more flexibly than before;
OBSERVING that the uncertainty created by the premature termination of IP rights reduces the incentive to use the IP system;
BELIEVING that termination of an IP right on the basis of unintentionally missing a deadline or any other unintentional mistake is a disproportionate penalty;
FURTHER CONSIDERING our previous resolutions urging more lenient rules and practice in this respect, such as “PLT Relief and Reinstatement Measures”1, “Standard for Re-establishment of Rights”2, “Reinstatement of Rights in Industrial Designs”3, “Restoration of priority rights”4, and “PCT National Phase Requirements”5;
RECOGNISING that provisions on re-establishment of rights are generally subject to conditions that safeguard the legitimate interests of third parties; URGES IP Offices to adopt a comparable flexible approach as applied during the Covid-19 pandemic, and therefore apply the available legal provisions to the greatest possible extent in
favour of the granting of extensions of time limits and re-establishment of rights, whilst background image “Flexible approach for missed deadlines and other mistakes” applying only reasonable sanctions and taking into account the legitimate interests of third parties;
FURTHER URGES that, if necessary, laws, regulations and guidelines are amended to implement such a comparable flexible approach, including by implementing the
“unintentional standard” for re-establishment.
1 EXCO-DE10-RES-002
2 EXCO- ZA11-RES-002
3 EXCO- IT11-RES-003
4 EXCO-IT13-RES-001
5 EXCO-CA18-RES-002
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