UK PATENT OFFICE TESTING PUBLIC COMMENT VIA E-MAIL ON PENDING PATENT APPLICATIONS: The UK Patent Office is introducing an e-mail option to help the public make comments on pending patent applications. Accordingly, if someone has evidence which will help the Patent Office decide if an invention is worthy of a patent, then they are encouraged to submit it.

These comments are are referred to as "section 21 observations" (named after section 21 of the Patents Act 1977) and have always been accepted from members of the public who can help the Patent Office with their assessment of whether an invention is patentable. The Patent Office is now helping more people exploit this opportunity by explaining the simple procedures on its website, and launching an address for e-mail submissions.