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12 1964

PATENTS ACT, 1964

PART VI.

Register of Patents.

Register of patents.

63. —(1) There shall continue to be kept at the Office a register of patents, in which there shall be entered particulars of patents in force, of assignments and transmissions of patents and of licences under patents, and notice of all matters which are required by or under this Act to be entered in the register and of such other matters affecting the validity or proprietorship of patents as the Controller thinks fit.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act and to any rules made by the Minister, the register of patents shall, at all convenient times, be open to inspection by the public; and certified copies, sealed with the seal of the Controller, of any entry in the register shall be given to any person requiring them on payment of the prescribed fee.

(3) The register of patents shall be prima facie evidence of any matters required or authorised by or under this Act to be entered therein.

(4) No notice of any trust, whether expressed, implied or constructive, shall be entered in the register of patents, and the Controller shall not be affected by any such notice.

Registration of assignments, etc.

64. —(1) Where a person becomes entitled by assignment or transmission, operation of law or any other mode of transfer to a patent or to a share in a patent, or becomes entitled as mortgagee, licensee or otherwise to any other interest in a patent, he shall apply to the Controller in the prescribed manner for the registration of his title as proprietor or co-proprietor, or, as the case may be, of notice of his interest, in the register of patents.

(2) Without prejudice to the provisions of the foregoing subsection, an application for the registration of the title of any person becoming entitled by assignment to a patent or a share in a patent, or becoming entitled by virtue of a mortgage, licence or other instrument to any other interest in a patent, may be made in the prescribed manner by the assignor, mortgagor, licensor or other party to that instrument, as the case may be.

(3) Where application is made under this section for the registration of the title of any person, the Controller shall, upon proof of title to his satisfaction—

(a) where that person is entitled to a patent or a share in a patent, register him in the register of patents as proprietor or co-proprietor of the patent, and enter in that register particulars of the instrument or event by which he derives title; or

(b) where that person is entitled to any other interest in the patent, enter in that register notice of his interest, with particulars of the instrument (if any) creating it.

(4) Subject to the provisions of this Act relating to co-ownership of patents, and subject also to any rights vested in any other person of which notice is entered in the register of patents, the person or persons registered as grantee or proprietor of a patent shall have power to assign, grant licences under, or otherwise deal with the patent, and to give effectual receipts for any consideration for any such assignment, licence or dealing:

Provided that any equities in respect of the patent may be enforced in like manner as in respect of any other personal property.

(5) Rules made by the Minister under this Act may require the supply to the Controller for filing at the Office of copies of such deeds, licences and other documents as may be prescribed.

(6) Except for the purposes of an application to rectify the register under the following provisions of this Act, a document in respect of which no entry has been made in the register of patents under subsection (3) of this section shall not be admitted in any court as evidence of the title of any person to a patent or share of or interest in a patent unless the court otherwise directs.

Power of Court to amend register.

65. —(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Court may on the application in the prescribed manner of any person aggrieved by the non-insertion in or omission from the register of any entry or by any entry made in the register without sufficient cause, or by any entry wrongly remaining in the register, or by an error or defect in any entry in the register, make such order for making, expunging, or varying such entry as it may think fit.

(2) The Court may in any proceeding under this section decide any question that it may be necessary or expedient to decide in connection with the rectification of the register.

(3) The prescribed notice of any application under this section shall be given to the Controller, who shall have the right to appear and be heard thereon, and shall appear if so directed by the Court. Unless otherwise directed by the Court, the Controller in lieu of appearing and being heard may submit to the Court a statement in writing signed by him, giving particulars of the proceedings before him in relation to the matter in issue or of the grounds of any decision given by him affecting the same or of the practice of the Office in like cases, or of such other matters relevant to the issues, and within his knowledge as Controller, as he shall think fit, and such statement shall be deemed to form part of the evidence in the proceeding.

(4) In the case of fraud in the registration or transmission of a patent, the Controller may himself apply to the Court under the provisions of this section.

(5) Any order of the Court rectifying the register shall direct that notice of the rectification be served on the Controller in the prescribed manner, who shall upon the receipt of such notice rectify the register accordingly.

(6) Any application under this section (other than an application by the Controller) may, at the option of the applicant, be made in the first instance to the Controller, and in such case the Controller shall have all the powers of the Court under this section, but his decision shall be subject to appeal.

Power to correct clerical errors, etc.

66. —(1) The Controller may, in accordance with the provisions of this section, correct any clerical error in any patent, any application for a patent, or any document filed in pursuance of such an application, or, without prejudice to subsection (6) of the last foregoing section, any error in the register of patents.

(2) A correction may be made in pursuance of this section either upon a request in writing made by any person interested and accompanied by the prescribed fee, or without such a request.

(3) Where the Controller proposes to make any such correction as aforesaid otherwise than in pursuance of a request made under this section, he shall give notice of the proposal to the patentee or the applicant for the patent, as the case may be, and to any other person who appears to him to be concerned, and shall give them an opportunity to be heard before making the correction

Certificate of Controller and sealed copies of documents in Office to be evidence.

67. —(1) A certificate purporting to be under the hand of the Controller as to any entry, matter, or thing which he is authorised by this Act, or any general rules made thereunder, to make or do, shall be prima facie evidence of the entry having been made, and of the contents thereof, or of the matter or thing having been done or left undone.

(2) Printed or written copies or extracts, purporting to be certified by the Controller or an officer of the Controller and sealed with the seal of the Controller, of or from patents, specifications, and other documents or books in the Office, and of or from registers kept there, shall be admitted in evidence in all courts and in all legal proceedings without further proof or production of the originals.

Requests for information as to patent or patent application.

68. —The Controller shall, on request made to him in the prescribed manner by any person and on payment of the prescribed fee, furnish the person making the request with such information relating to any patent or application for a patent as may be specified in the request, being information in respect of any such matters as may be prescribed.

Restriction upon publication of specifications, etc.

69. —An application for a patent, and any specification filed in pursuance thereof, shall not, except with the consent of the applicant, be published by the Controller or be open to public inspection at any time before the date advertised in the Journal in pursuance of subsection (2) of section 18 of this Act:

Provided that the Minister may prescribe a time within which any complete specification filed at the Office in pursuance of an application for a patent shall be laid open to public inspection.

Loss or destruction of patents.

70. —If a patent is lost or destroyed, or its non-production is accounted for to the satisfaction of the Controller, the Controller may at any time seal a duplicate thereof.