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2.15.6 Time for Acceptance

Date Published

A complete application for a standard patent lapses if the patent request and complete specification are not accepted within the period prescribed (sec 142(2)(e)). Regulation 13.4 specifies the relevant period, which for most cases will be a period expiring 12 months from the date of a first examination report.  All examination reports must indicate the period of time for acceptance.

Where the time for acceptance expires on a day that the Office is not open for business, then the acceptance may be carried out on the next day that the Office is open for business (see 2.3.4 Reckoning of Time).  For the purposes of sec 222A, an acceptance carried out by outposted and home based examiners is an act done at the Office (i.e. in Canberra).  However, note that the Melbourne IP Office (MIPO) [formerly the Melbourne Patent Examination Centre (MPEC)] is not considered a sub-office for the purposes of sec 222A.

Consequently, examiners need only have regard to non-business days that apply to the Office in Canberra and not to the local holidays to which they are entitled.  For example, for an application which has Melbourne Cup Day as the last day for acceptance, acceptance cannot be validly carried out on the following day by a Melbourne based outposted examiner (or an examiner based at MIPO/MPEC) unless covered by an extension of time.

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