Digital Access Service for Priority Documents
The Digital Access Service for Priority Documents is to be established and administered by the International Bureau of WIPO. The new service will enable a patent applicant claiming priority from an earlier application to rely on a copy of the priority document held in, or accessible via, the service, rather than having to provide a certified copy separately to each Patent Office with which a patent application claiming priority is filed. Participation in the new system will be voluntary for Patent Offices and for applicants.
WIPO member states in October 2006 endorsed a proposal to establish the service. The matter was considered by the Assembly of the Paris Union for the Protection of Industrial Property, the Patent Law Treaty Assembly and the International Patent Cooperation Union Assembly (PCT Assembly), on the basis of a proposal submitted by WIPO’s secretariat (see WIPO document A/42/5), in the context of the 42nd series of meetings of the Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO held in Geneva from September 25 to October 3, 2006. The Assemblies adopted a decision (see WIPO document A/42/14, paragraph 220) by which they:
- approved the convening in early 2007 of an ad hoc Working Group to consider matters associated with the establishment of a digital access service for priority documents to be administered by the International Bureau;
- directed the International Bureau to establish framework provisions and appropriate procedures, according to the recommendations from the Working Group, for administering the digital service;
- directed the international Bureau to implement the digital access service in accordance with the established framework provisions and procedures;
- requested the International Bureau to report to them in September 2007 on the results of the ad hoc Working Group and on any implementation of the service that may have commenced.
The Working Group on the Digital Access Service for Priority Documents has now been established. The work of the Working Group is supported by an electronic forum on WIPO's website.
