Industrial and Commercial Property (Protection) Act, 1927

Application for patent in certain cases.

12.—(1) Any person or the legal representative or assignce of any person who applied after the 6th day of December, 1921 and before the commencement of this Part of this Act to the Minister for Economic Affairs of the late Provisional Government of Ireland or to the Minister for Industry and Commerce of Saorstát Eireann for a patent or protection in respect of an invention shall be entitled to apply under this Act within one year after the commencement of this Part of this Act for a patent in respect of the same invention and shall be entitled to have such application under this Act dated and treated as having been made as of the date of the first-mentioned application for the purposes of determining the respective priorities of the said application under this Act and any other application, fixing the date to be borne by any patent granted pursuant to the said application under this Act, and determining whether the invention had been previously published in Saorstát Eireann or in Great Britain.

(2) Any person or the legal representative or assignee of any person who has obtained between the 6th day of December, 1921 and the commencement of this Part of this Act protection for an invention in any British dominion (other than Great Britain and Northern Ireland) or foreign state to which the provisions of section 152 (which relates to international arrangements) of this Act are applied or declared to be applicable by order made under that section shall be entitled to apply under this Act within one year after the commencement of this Part of this Act for a patent in respect of the same invention and shall be entitled to have the said application under this Act dated and treated as having been made as of the date of the application for protection of the invention in such British dominion or foreign state for the purposes of determining the respective priorities of the said application under this Act and any other application, fixing the date to be borne by any patent granted pursuant to the said application under this Act, and determining whether the invention had been previously published in Saorstát Eireann or in Great Britain.

(3) Any person who applies for a patent under the provisions of this section may at any time before the grant of such patent (hereinafter called the first-mentioned patent) or within such time after such grant as may be allowed by the controller apply to the controller for the revocation of any patent (hereinafter called the second-mentioned patent) which by virtue of this Act is deemed to be a patent granted under this Act and bears date as of any date between the 6th day of December, 1921 and the commencement of this Part of this Act and is for the same invention as that in respect of which the first-mentioned patent is applied for on the ground that the date of the application for the second-mentioned patent was subsequent to the date of an application made by the applicant for the first-mentioned patent to the Minister for Economic Affairs of the late Provisional Government of Ireland or to the Minister for Industry and Commerce of Saorstát Eireann or in any such British dominion or foreign state as is mentioned in the foregoing sub-section for a patent or protection of the same invention and the controller may on such application for revocation revoke the second-mentioned patent on the ground aforesaid, but on no other ground.

(4) An appeal shall lie to the law officer from every decision of the controller on an application for revocation under the foregoing sub-section.

(5) The term limited in a patent granted pursuant to an application made under the provisions of sub-section (1) of this section for the duration of such patent shall be sixteen years from the date of the commencement of this Part of this Act, and for the purposes of the application of the Second Schedule to this Act to such patent the date of such patent shall be deemed to be the date of such commencement.

(6) No fees shall be payable under this Act on any patent granted pursuant to an application made under the provisions of sub-section (2) of this section in respect of anything done or any period of time expired before the commencement of this Part of this Act.