Patents Act, 1992
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Conversion of European patent application. |
122.—(1) Where under the European Patent Convention an application for a European patent designating the State is deemed to have been withdrawn because it has not, within the period required by the said convention, been received by the European Patent Office, the Controller may direct that, on compliance with the conditions mentioned in subsection (2), the application shall be treated as a patent application under Part II . | |
(2) The conditions referred to in subsection (1) are that— | ||
(a) the applicant within the prescribed period shall pay the filing fee, and, if the application is in French or German, file a translation in English of the application and of any amendments previously made in accordance with the European Patent Convention; and | ||
(b) (i) the applicant shall request the Controller within the prescribed period (where the application was filed with the Office) to give a direction under this section; or | ||
(ii) the central industrial property office of a country which is party to the said convention, other than the State, with which the application was filed shall transmit within the prescribed period a request that the application be converted into an application under Part II , together with a copy of the said application as so filed. | ||
(3) Where an application for a European patent falls to be treated as a patent application (within the meaning of this Act) by virtue of a direction under this section— | ||
(a) the date which is the date of filing the application under the European Patent Convention shall be treated as its date of filing for the purposes of this Act, but if that date is redated under the European Patent Convention to a later date, then that later date shall be treated for those purposes as the date of filing the application; | ||
(b) if the application satisfies a requirement imposed by virtue of a provision of the said convention it shall be treated as satisfying the requirements for a patent application under this Act; | ||
(c) any document filed with the European Patent Office under any provision of the European Patent Convention corresponding to any of the following provisions of this Act, that is to say, sections 12 (1) (b), 17 (2), 18 (2) or 26 (1) or any rule made for the purposes of any of those provisions, shall be treated as filed with the Office under that provision or rule. |