I am delighted to inform all readers this morning that the CTC has recommended to the PCT Union to appoint the Israel Patent Office as an International Search Authority ISA and an International Preliminary Exaination Authority IPEA of the PCT System
Apparently the decision passed with near-unanimous support followed by some political excitement. Syria, backed by Sudan and Algeria, opposed the initiative which passed after US led linkage to the Egyptian Patent Office being accorded similar status.
From an Israel Patent Office communication, it appears that implementation may take 2 years followed by a trial period where Israel Applicants will be able to elect the Israel Patent Office as International Search Authority. The incentive to do so will be reduced search fees, of about half that asked by the USPTO and EPO.
According to the official Documentation http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/pct/en/pct_a_40/pct_a_40_5.pdf Israeli applicants will be able to continue using the services of the EPO or the USPTO, however it is not clear whether in the long run Israeli Applicants will still be able to use the US and/or European Patent Offices.
Since Israel has a large number of scientists and engineers that speak many languages, it is not unlikely that with appropriate training, Examiners at the Israel Patent Office could become the best search authority. If they do a recruitment drive of Arabic speakers, they could eventually compete with Egypt to provide Arabic language searches (to those Arabic countries that will approve Israel as a search authority).
Indeed, in terms of skills and salaries, it makes sense for other countries to subcontract searches and perhaps examination to the Israel Patent Office in a similar manner to R&D being conducted here for many international organizations.
In a shrinking world, we believe that Israel should export search and examination searches (and also academic degrees). Firstly, the Israel Examiners will have to prove themselves.
There are only a very few Internationally approved Search and Examination Authorities. Even the United Kingdom Patent Office is not included in the list.
We see this as a great achievement for Dr. Meir Noam, the Israel Commissioner of Patents, and the examiners and support staff of the Israel Patent Office, Ms Li Maor who sits on the Israel Desk of WIPO and thank everyone who supported the initiative.
Yes, quite an accomplishment, but what were the criteria used to reach this decision?
To the experienced among us, the Israeli examiners do not exactly have a reputation as expert patent searchers. For the sake of the integrity of the PCT, I sure hope Israeli Applicants will not be required to use the Israeli Search Authority.
The decision was linked with one to allow Egypt to become a International Search Authority as well. The main criterion is 100 examiners.
To date, some Israeli examiners have not shown the best searching skills. It is an aquired art and I see no reason why the Israeli examiner cannot learn it. As a melting pot, there is a real possibility to recruit examiners with strong language skills.
According to a letter today, in a couple of years, Israeli applicants will be offered the Search Service locally at reduced rate compared to the EPO and USPTO. If enough ISraeli applicants take advantage of this and provide appropriate feedback, we see no reason why the Israel Patent Office should not be able to provide a high quality service.