Industrial and Commercial Property (Protection) (Neuchatel Agreement) Act, 1947

Priority under international arrangements.

2.—(1) The Controller may extend the time for making a Convention application until a date not later than the 30th day of June, 1948, in any case in which the first application was filed in a Convention country not later than the 31st day of December, 1946, and the relevant period specified in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of subsection (1) of section 152 of the Principal Act expired on or after the 3rd day of September, 1939, and before the 1st day of January, 1948.

(2) (a) Where an application for a patent or for the registration of a design or trade mark has been made or is made not later than the 30th June, 1948, and the applicant desires to convert the application into a Convention application made by virtue of subsection (1) of this section, a request in writing for the conversion of the application into a Convention application may be made, and the prescribed information and documents may be filed at any time before the acceptance of the complete specification, in the case of a patent, or the registration of the design or the acceptance of the trade mark application.

(b) If the Controller allows the conversion he may require a new application form to be filed in substitution for the application form previously filed, and may make or allow to be made such amendments in the application documents as are necessary to convert the application into a Convention application.

(3) Where a Convention application made by virtue of this section is in order for the sealing of a patent thereon, or the patent thereon has been sealed, and a patent for an identical invention has previously been applied for by or granted to the same applicant, the Controller may refuse to seal a patent on the previous application or may make an order for the revocation of the existing patent.

(4) Where a design forming the subject of a Convention application made by virtue of this section is about to be registered or has been registered, and an application for registration of an identical design has previously been made by, or a certificate of registration has previously been granted to, the same applicant, the Controller may refuse to register the design previously applied for or may make an order for the cancellation of the existing registration.

(5) Section 152 of the Principal Act and this section shall be construed as one.