In one patent file this October, the route after rejection was an appeal to the Minister of Planning within 30 days, followed, if necessary, by an appeal before the Administrative Court.
In that file, the 30 days were calculated from the date of the decision itself, not from the day it was reported to us. By the time it was reported to the foreign agent, six of the 30 days had already gone.
What the appeal needs most is technical substance. We asked for a detailed technical response from the inventors, addressing and refuting each ground of rejection in the decision. That answer has to travel from the inventors to their attorney, then to Baghdad, and be built into an appeal, all inside the window.
If your patent application in Iraq is rejected:
- In our files, treat the date on the decision as day one
- Get the decision to the inventors the same day
- Ask for a point-by-point answer to each ground of rejection
- Leave your Iraqi attorney time to prepare and file before the deadline
Questions about patent prosecution or appeals in Iraq? Our team is glad to help.