On 1 February 2006, Dr. Meir Noam, the Israel Comissioner of Patents, circulated a memorandum that clarifies his postion regarding late entry into the National Phase, i.e. missing the 30 month deadline.
Noam has clarified that the relevant issue is that the applicant and his representatives are required to have shown “due care” and not for there to have been an “Act of God” or “Circumstances beyond their control”.
In the past, I’ve successfully entered the National Phase for foreign associates who erroniously thought that Israel had a 31 month deadline as does Europe, and, whilst serving as an employee for a patent firm having an antiquated manual filing system, managed to successfully effect a late entry, where the filing clerk forgotten to take out the file, and the head secretary who checked such things, was on holiday.
Even in the best run establishments, mistakes may happen, and Noam’s stance is in accordance with the letter of the Israel Law and the spirit of the PCT directives on the issue.
