The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines has issued amendments to the regulations, which took effect on 1st August 2017. A major amendment involves the submission of a Declaration of Actual Use when renewing a registration. Under the new rules, Declarations of Actual Use, together with material evidence of use, are now due: (a) Within three years from the filing date of the application (a one-time extension of six months is permitted);(b) Within one year from the fifth anniversary...

The President of the European Patent Office and the Director-General of Tunisia's National Standardisation and Industrial Property Institute (INNORPI) have announced that, with effect from 1st December 2017, European patents can be validated in Tunisia and thus regarded as national Tunisian rights, subject to Tunisian patent legislation. This validation agreement with Tunisia, which follows similar agreements with Morocco and the Republic of Moldova in 2015, will bring to 43 the total number...

A further official letter was issued by the Omani Patent Office on 1st November 2017, requesting that applicants pay the substantive examination fees in respect of all patent applications which were formally accepted during 2016. It is therefore now necessary to submit a request for substantive examination and pay the examination fees within two months from the date on which the above-mentioned official letter was issued, i.e. before 1st January 2018. Failure to do so will cause the...