Patents Act, 1992

Action for infringement of published application.

56.—(1) After a patent has been granted the proprietor may bring civil proceedings in the Court for infringement of the patent application by any act committed in the period, beginning on the day after the date of publication of the application pursuant to section 28 and ending on the day before the date of publication of the notice of the grant of the patent, which he alleges he is entitled by virtue of sections 44 and 45 to prevent and in such proceedings a claim for damages may be made in respect of an alleged infringement.

(2) The provisions of sections 48 to 53 and section 55 relating to infringement of a patent shall apply, in so far as they are appropriate, to proceedings under this section.

(3) In considering the amount of any damages to be awarded in proceedings under this section, the Court shall consider whether or not it would have been reasonable to expect, from a consideration of the application as published under section 28 , that a patent would be granted conferring on the proprietor of the patent protection from an act of the same description as that found to have infringed those rights, and if the Court finds that it would not have been reasonable so to expect, it shall reduce the damages to such an amount as it thinks fit.