Yesterday the ILPTO published the latest installment of the Patents Journal (the local equivalent of the USPTO Gazette), which includes various bits of information, including patents that have lapsed for non-payment of renewal fees. Among the patents listed in this category, at page 401 of the Journal, is IL 209747, which was filed on March 3, 2007 and granted on November 1, 2013.
That last date caught my attention, because under the ILPTO’s interpretation of the statutory scheme, within three months from a patent’s date of grant, the patentee needs to retroactively pay accrued renewal fees, but within that three month window, the patent remains in force, even without payment of renewal fees. Which means that IL 209747 can’t possibly have lapsed yet – only two months have passed since the patent was granted.
And indeed, a printout of the patent status from the ILPTO’s website obtained today (see below, click on it for a larger version) shows the status of the patent as being “not in force”…as of February 1, 2014. Looks like someone has some ‘splainin’ to do. Or, as חז"ל said, הנבואה ניתנה לשוטים
Extra credit: can you spot any other errors in this situation? I can see at least two. Contact me offline if you want to discuss.