Our senior associate Ms. Mónica Guevara, Patent Prosecution Coordinator, recently led and participated in the development of the paper entitled “Divisional Practices around the Globe”, developed by the Patent Committee of the International Association of Intellectual Property Firms (AIFP), and published as a special edition of the AIPF Bugle.
The work addressed the principal legal strategies for divisional filing in different jurisdictions, including the United States, Europe, Australia, Canada, Mexico, and Colombia. Without any doubt, the study constitutes a powerful resource for the general understanding of this practice which allows applicants to strategically divide the scope of the application, in order to obtain full protection of the invention, particularly when it comes to managing international and regional patent portfolios.
The research led by our associate highlights for each jurisdiction, the analysis of the unit of invention requirement, any possible double patenting restrictions, deadlines, if any, for filing divisional applications, and the possibility of using divisional applications as a strategy for maintaining the pendency of a case. In the Colombian case, the author highlights the content of Resolution 3719 of 2016, wherein the Colombian Patent office regulated this practice in addition to the rules set by article 36 of Andean Decision 486.
