Patent Legislation

International Aspects:
 

Israel is a signatory of all main international treaties and conventions, namely the Paris Convention, PCT, Budapest Treaty and Patent Law Treaty.
 

On July 14, 1967 Israel became a signatory of the Paris Convention (Stockholm 1967), which was ratified on July 30, 1969 and entered into force on April 26, 1970.

On June 19, 1970 Israel became a signatory of the PCT, which was ratified on 10/8/1995 and entered into force on March 1, 1996. The applicable time limit to the national phase entry is 30 months from the priority date. A later entry into national phase may be approved upon the proof of “due care” criterion (circular mn45).

The later entry provisions may also be granted for priority claims made after 12 months from the priority date of a priority application, preceding an international phase PCT application entering national phase in Israel, within 2 months from the time limit and upon the proof of “due care” (circular mn53, article 26bis under the Regulations of the PCT).

The later entry provisions may also be granted for direct priority claims under Paris Convention made after 12 months from a priority date of application preceding an Israeli application within 2 months from the time limit and upon the proof of “due care” (circular mn57).

It is noted, however, that “due care” is construed rather narrowly in Israel, somewhat similarly to the “unavoidably abandoned” criterion of the USPTO, and the applicant is required to prove that he has acted on all reasonable measures to perform the filing duly.

Budapest Treaty was ratified on January 26, 1996 and entered into force on April 26, 1996.

The Patent Law Treaty has not been officially ratified but has been adopted in the administrative routine of the Patent Office.

Characteristics and main amendments of the Patent Law:

Israel has not legislated neither civilian nor penal codex and all the IP laws as well as other laws are not codified.

Until early 90’s, the patent law in Israel had not been substantially amended. The text of the original Patent Law 1967 is in essence the text of the old British patent law translated into Hebrew.

In 1995 the Patent Law 1967 was amended to incorporate the provisions of the PCT. In 1998 the Patent Law 1967 was amended to incorporate the provisions of patent term extensions and the provisions Budapest Treaty.

In 1999 and 2000 the Patent Law 1967 was amended upon the joining of Israel to the TRIPS agreement. The substantive merits of patentability were revised to encompass inventions in any technological field, provided that the invention is new, inventive, possesses a utility and industrially applicable. Plants and animals were explicitly excluded from patentability, except for non-wild type or genetically modified microorganisms. Mental acts, mathematical formulae and ways of presenting data were excluded from patentability. The conditions for granting compulsory licenses were limited to abuse of monopoly. The transfer of compulsory licenses to other parties was limited. Extended protection was provided for process inventions, extending the protection of the patented process to apply to the product thereof.

Hereditary characteristics of British Laws:

 The specifications and claims can be filed in English.

 Preliminary publications, shortly after filing of the title, filing date, applicant’s identity and address, correspondence address and priority claims if made; similar to preliminary publications in Britain, South Africa, Finland, etc. (article 16 to the Patent Law).

 Israel grants patents of addition, as in old British Law, in which no inventiveness is required, similar to the American CIP applications.

 Omnibus claims until recently were allowable in Israeli patents, limited to dependent claims (circular mn63).

Patent applications, except of the preliminary publications under article 16, are not published until they are allowed; in this sense Israeli applications have a submarining nature.

Below is a list of the main laws and amendments that deal with patenting and rights on inventions in Israel:

Patent Law 1967, the substantive patent law, enacted in 1967 and amended on: 1/11/1989; 10/8/1995; 26/2/1998; 30/12/1999; 23/11/2000; 13/6/2002. English translation of the Patent Law 1967 is available from WIPO at http://www.wipo.int/clea/en/details.jsp?id=2364.

Patent Regulations 1968 - (fees, documents, procedures and office formalities) the formal aspects of the patent practice, enacted in 1968 and amended on numerous occasions, mainly due to the amendments to the fees schedule. English translation of the Patent Regulations 1968 is available from WIPO at http://www.wipo.int/clea/en/details.jsp?id=2365.

Patent Regulations 1996 - (implementation of the PCT mechanism)

Patent Regulations 1998 - (patent term extensions)

Amendment of the Intellectual Property Laws 1999 - (conformity with the TRIPS agreement) a comprehensive amendment of the Israeli IP legislation of copyright law, patent law, trademark law and industrial design law

Patent and Designs Ordinance, enacted prior to the establishment of the state of Israel; presently applicable merely for industrial designs