The FICPI Executive Committee met in Naples on 12 and 16 October 2025 and passed seven important resolutions.
The seven Resolutions are described below. Additionally, a FICPI Position Paper on Provisional Patent Applications has been issued.
EXCO/IT25/RES/001 Speed of design examination and availability of deferral
This resolution urges Intellectual Property offices to provide options for both cost-efficient and effective expedited examination procedures for registered design/design patent applications, as well as formal deferral procedures. This is to ensure that applicants can obtain design rights quickly when needed for fast-moving industries, or defer examination to maintain secrecy for longer-term product development, thereby meeting diverse commercial needs.
EXCO/IT25/RES/002 Controls on Foreign Filing of Patent Applications
This resolution urges countries to limit restrictions on foreign filing of patent applications to cases that may disclose inventions related to State security, to publish information about relevant IPC classes where state security concerns may arise, to harmonise and reduce the number of different criteria for such restrictions, and to provide easy, rapid, and cost-efficient procedures for obtaining decisions on foreign filing and for remediation when filings are made contrary to national legislation. This is to ensure that applicants don’t get stuck between different foreign-filing restrictions, and to reduce the costs in dealing with these issues.
EXCO/IT25/RES/003 Principles for Preliminary Injunctions
This resolution urges countries to review the availability of preliminary injunctions in IP cases according to principles of balanced access, proportionality, applicant liability, defendant safeguards, and transparency. It further urges countries to engage in international efforts to harmonise standards for preliminary injunctions, especially in cross-border IP disputes.
EXCO/IT25/RES/004 Influence of a Title or a product indication of a Design on the Scope of Protection
This resolution urges jurisdictions to ensure that design rights, both for grant/validity and for determining scope of protection, are directed to the appearance of the design itself and are not substantially dependent on the designated title or product indication. This is to avoid uncertainty and inconsistency in protection across different jurisdictions.
EXCO/IT25/RES/005 Human-centric use of AI in the IP system
This resolution urges IP Attorneys to be transparent with clients about their use of AI, and urges IP Offices, administrative bodies, and courts to be transparent about their use of AI in searches, opinions, and decisions. It further urges that AI be used responsibly in a human-centric manner, ensuring that substantive decisions are always made by at least one competent human examiner or judge.
EXCO/IT25/RES/006 Inventive step assessment of antibody claims
This resolution urges Patent Offices to eliminate or refrain from including in their rules, guidelines, and practices the presumption of prima facie obviousness of antibodies and the assumption that all antibodies are produced by routine methods. This is to ensure fair inventive step assessment and to encourage innovation in antibody products.
EXCO/IT25/RES/007 The importance of cooperation in the IP ecosystem
This resolution encourages all involved in the IP ecosystem to be mindful of their role in fostering a cooperative environment, building trust, and improving the IP system. This includes recognising the importance of diversity, inclusion, mental wellbeing, and the role of empathy and listening in cooperation.
The Resolutions passed by the Executive Committee may be found here.
Position Paper on Provisional Patent Applications
This position paper addresses how provisional applications are presented to possible applicants.
We consider it is very important that the general public and future applicants in particular are duly and fully informed about both the advantages and the disadvantages - including risks - of provisional applications, and we highly appreciate the role that government bodies may play in this process of educating applicants for patents, in order to improve the intellectual property position of both companies and research institutions in a way that benefits all of society.
Please click here to read the Position Paper.
Robert Watson
President
Study & Work Commission (CET)