Industrial and Commercial Property (Protection) Act, 1927

Documents to accompany specifications.

19.—(1) Every provisional specification must be accompanied by a statement as to whether the applicant has or has not applied for a British patent for the invention described in that specification and, if he has not so applied, a further statement as to whether he does or does not intend so to apply.

(2) Every complete specification must be accompanied by a statement as to whether the applicant has or has not applied for a British patent for the invention claimed in the specification and, if he has so applied, a further statement as to whether such application has been granted, is still pending, or has been refused.

(3) A complete specification which is accompanied by a statement that a British patent for the invention has not been applied for shall be accompanied also by a statutory declaration made by a person who is registered either in the register of patent agents kept under this Act or in the register of patent agents kept in London or in the register of clerks kept under this Act that he has made a search and investigation in the Office or in the Patent Office in London or in some other place for the time being authorised in that behalf by rules made under this Act for the purpose of ascertaining whether the invention claimed in the complete specification has been wholly or in part claimed or described in any specification (other than a provisional specification not followed by a complete specification) published before the date of the application and left in the Patent Office in London pursuant to an application for a patent in the late United Kingdom made during the period commencing fifty years before the application under this Act and ending on the date of the commencement of this Part of this Act and that he is satisfied as a result of such search and investigation that the said invention had not been wholly or in part claimed or described in any such specification so published and left as aforesaid.

(4) A complete specification which is accompanied by a statement that a British patent for the invention claimed in the specification had been applied for and granted shall be accompanied by a certified copy of the complete specification on which such British patent was granted together with the prescribed proof of the acceptance of the last-mentioned specification by the Comptroller-General of the Patent Office in London.

(5) Whenever a complete specification is accompanied by a statement that a British patent for the invention has been applied for and that such application is still pending, the applicant shall, if the complete specification left in the Patent Office in London pursuant to the application for the British patent be accepted by the Comptroller-General of the Patent Office in London, lodge a certified copy of the last-mentioned complete specification together with the prescribed proof of the acceptance of such specification by the said Comptroller-General within one month after such acceptance.

(6) Subject to the provisions of the next following sub-section (when applicable) the controller shall not accept a provisional specification or a complete specification unless and untill the provisions of the foregoing sub-sections of this section (so far as the same are applicable) have been complied with.

(7) Where—

(a) a complete specification contains a statement that a British patent for the invention has been applied for and that such application is still pending, and

(b) such application is refused,

the applicant shall give notice of such refusal to the controller and thereupon the controller shall refuse to accept the application unless and until the applicant proves—

(i) by the prescribed evidence that such refusal was made on grounds other than that the invention claimed in the complete specification has been wholly or in part claimed or described in any specification (other than a provisional specification not followed by a complete specification) published before the date of the application and left in the Patent Office in London pursuant to an application for a patent in the late United Kingdom made during the period commencing fifty years before the application and ending on the date of the commencement of this Part of this Act, and

(ii) by such statutory declaration as is mentioned in sub-section (3) of this section, that the invention has not been wholly or in part claimed in any such specification as is mentioned in the foregoing paragraph (i).

(8) A refusal by the controller under the foregoing sub-section to accept an application shall be subject to appeal to the law officer.