Windward Limited v The Comptroller-General of Patents

Facts

Windward Limited was the applicant for GB2108001.5, a patent application handled in the United Kingdom by its patent agent Mr Tom Hutchinson of Hutchinson IP, instructed through the applicant's professional representatives in Israel. A first examination report under section 18(3) of the Patents Act 1977 was issued on 27 May 2022 and answered on 25 August 2022; a second was issued on 20 October 2022 with a latest date for response of 20 December 2022. That deadline passed unanswered, and it was only on 27 March 2023 that the appellant filed a substantive response together with a request for a discretionary extension of time, explaining that instructions emailed by its Israeli attorneys had not been received. The examiner replied on 16 May 2023 that no extension could be granted but that he had discretion to accept a late-filed response, and asked for copies of the emails relied upon. Nothing was filed; a further request for evidence issued on 31 October 2023, and the application was refused on 13 December 2023. The appellant, which said it had received none of those letters, sought to have the compliance date of 5 June 2023 extended under rules 107 and 111. The Hearing Officer, Ms J Pullen, acting for the Comptroller-General of Patents, held on 3 September 2025 that neither rule permitted an extension, and the appellant appealed to the Patents Court.