Who’s afraid of error messages?

From frustration to insight – Part I: Revocation data in the Global Dossier service 

When you run a search and get an error message, it’s frustrating. But error messages are not always triggered by technical problems or system errors. They often appear for other reasons entirely – for example because time limits applying to the patents or patent applications in question have not passed or owing to provisions in the applicable national IP law. 

So an initial feeling of annoyance can actually lead you to a deeper understanding of the current status or the legal background of the patent or patent application in question. 

In this series of case studies, we will look at typical situations in which error messages are displayed and explain what’s really behind these messages.   

Case 1: You can’t open the decision to revoke a patent (original document and translation) in the Global Dossier: 

In Espacenet, you find that the Korean member of a large patent family, laid-open number KR20210094615 A, was granted and published as KR102559495 B in July 2023.  

Fig. 1: Korean document KR102559495B in Espacenet 

The Global Dossier button takes you to the Register, where you can inspect the file online. First a list of all documents in this file with the respective URLs is displayed. The documents are available in the original language and, if applicable, in English (a machine translation generated on the fly).  

Fig. 2: Documents in the electronic file wrapper of KR102559495 B (application number KR20217019547) (status on 19 September 2024) 

You discover, when inspecting the file on 19 September 2024, that the Korean Patent Office decided on 30 August 2024 to revoke the patent (outcome of an opposition procedure). However, the links to the original document and the translated version (English) are not working, and you end up with the following error message: 

Fig. 3: Error message in the Global Dossier service for the document “Decision to Revoke Patent” – message displayed on 19 September 2024, i.e. before the document became available 

In this example, however, the “unexpected error” is triggered by a procedural factor, not a technical problem: the decision can still be appealed, so it has not yet entered into force and data on the decision is not yet publicly available.  

Obviously, the engine behind the interface can’t take account of these legal considerations. As no document exists for the decision, the system simply tells you that an “unexpected error” has occurred. And if there is no document, it is not possible to translate it, so you will receive the same error message when you click on the tab for the English machine translation.  

Key takeaway 

If you can’t access a decision such as the one in our example, getting an error message actually provides an important insight: there’s still a chance that the decision is not final and that the patent is still in force.   

To find out for sure (and to rule out the possibility that your error message is simply triggered by a technical problem), go to the national register of the IP authority in charge of the patent in question. 

Look out for more case studies explaining further reasons for “unexpected errors” in the next issues of PK News.  

Keywords: Global Dossier, revocation, legal event, error message