45.—(1) The extent of the protection conferred by a patent or a patent application shall be determined by the terms of the claims; nevertheless, the description and drawings shall be used to interpret the claims.

(2) For the period up to the grant of a patent, the extent of the protection conferred by the patent application shall be determined by the latest filed claims contained in the publication under section 28; however, the terms of the claims of the patent as granted or as amended in accordance with section 38 shall determine the extent of protection conferred by section 44; provided that the foregoing provisions of this subsection shall not be construed as granting to an applicant protection greater than that sought by him at the date of publication under section 28.

(3) In the interpretation of this section, the Court shall have regard to the directions contained in the Protocol on the Interpretation of Article 69 of the European Patent Convention and set out in the Second Schedule to this Act.