Patents Act · 2023 Revised Edition · Part · Property in Patents and Applications for Patents and Registration
48. Determination of right to patent after grant
Official textFrom Attorney General's Chambers, unchanged
After a patent has been granted for an invention, any person having or claiming a proprietary interest in or under the patent may refer to the Registrar the question —
patent
“patent” means a patent under this Act and includes a patent in force by virtue of section 114(4);
who is or are the true proprietor or proprietors of the patent;
whether the patent should have been granted to the person or persons to whom it was granted; or
whether any right in or under the patent should be transferred or granted to any other person or persons, and the Registrar shall determine the question and make such order as he thinks fit to give effect to the determination.
Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), an order under that subsection may contain provision —
directing that the person by whom the reference is made under that subsection shall be included (whether or not to the exclusion of any other person) among the persons registered as proprietors of the patent;
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directing the registration of a transaction, instrument or event by virtue of which that person has acquired any right in or under the patent;
granting any licence or other right in or under the patent;
and
directing the proprietor of the patent or any person having any right in or under the patent to do anything specified in the order as necessary to carry out the other provisions of the order.
If any person to whom directions have been given under subsection (2)(d) fails to do anything necessary for carrying out any such directions within 14 days after the date of the order containing the directions, the Registrar may, on an application made to him by any person in whose favour or on whose reference the order containing the directions was made, authorise him to do that thing on behalf of the person to whom the directions were given.
Where the Registrar finds on a reference under this section that the patent was granted to a person not entitled to be granted that patent
Registrar
“Registrar” means the Registrar of Patents and includes any Deputy Registrar of Patents holding office under this Act;
(whether alone or with other persons) and on an application made under section 77 makes an order on that ground for the conditional or unconditional revocation of the patent, the Registrar may order that the person by whom the application was made or his successor in title may, subject to section 81, make a new application for a patent —
in the case of unconditional revocation, for the whole of the matter comprised in the specification of that patent; and
in the case of conditional revocation, for the matter which in the opinion of the Registrar should be excluded from that specification by amendment under section 80, and where such a new application is made, it shall be treated as having been filed on the date of filing the application for the patent to which the reference relates.
On any reference under subsection (1) —
no order shall be made under this section transferring the patent to which the reference relates on the ground that the patent was granted to a person not so entitled; and
Patents
no order shall be made under subsection (4) on that ground if the reference was made after the end of the period of 2 years beginning with the date of the grant, unless it is shown that any person registered as a proprietor of the patent knew at the time of the grant or, as the case may be, of the transfer of the patent to him that he was not entitled to the patent.
An order under this section shall not be so made as to affect the mutual rights or obligations of trustees or of the personal representatives of a deceased person, or their rights or obligations as such.
Where a question is referred to the Registrar under this section, an order shall not be made by virtue of subsection (2) or under subsection (4)
on the reference unless notice of the reference is given to all persons registered as proprietor of the patent or as having a right in or under the patent, except those who are parties to the reference.
right
“right”, in relation to any patent or application, includes an interest in the patent or application and, without prejudice to the foregoing, any reference to a right in a patent includes a reference to a share in the patent;
If it appears to the Registrar on a reference under this section that the question referred to him would more properly be determined by the court, he may decline to deal with it and, without prejudice to the court’s jurisdiction to determine any such question and make a declaration, the court shall have jurisdiction to do so.
The court shall not in the exercise of any such declaratory jurisdiction determine a question whether a patent was granted to a person not entitled to be granted the patent if the proceedings in which the jurisdiction is invoked were commenced after the end of the period of 2 years beginning with the date of the grant of the patent, unless it is shown that any person registered as a proprietor of the patent knew at the time of the grant or, as the case may be, of the transfer of the patent to him that he was not entitled to the patent.
Terms defined in s 2
date of filing
Defined · s 2“date of filing”, in relation to — (a) an application for a patent made under this Act, means the date of filing that application by virtue of section 26; and (b) any other application, means the date which, under the law of the country where the application was made or in accordance with the terms of a treaty or convention to which that country is a party, is to be treated as the date of filing that application in that country or is equivalent to the date of filing an application in that country (whatever the outcome of the application);
patent
Defined · s 2“patent” means a patent under this Act and includes a patent in force by virtue of section 114(4);
Registrar
Defined · s 2“Registrar” means the Registrar of Patents and includes any Deputy Registrar of Patents holding office under this Act;
right
Defined · s 2“right”, in relation to any patent or application, includes an interest in the patent or application and, without prejudice to the foregoing, any reference to a right in a patent includes a reference to a share in the patent;
Part
Employees’ Inventions
Part
Contracts as to Patented Products
Part
Licences of Right and Compulsory Licences
Part
Use of Patented Inventions for Services of Government
Part
Infringement of Patents
Part
Revocation of Patents and Validity Proceedings
Part
Amendments of Patents and Applications
Part
International Applications for Patents
Part
Legal Proceedings
Part
Offences
Part
Patent Agents
Part