Patents (Amendment) Act 2006

Directions referred to in section 45(3) (Second Schedule to Principal Act).

35.— The Principal Act is amended by substituting the following for the Second Schedule:

“SECOND SCHEDULE

Directions referred to in section 45(3)

General principles

Section 45 should not be interpreted in the sense that the extent of the protection conferred by a patent is to be understood as that defined by the strict, literal meaning of the wording used in the claims, the description and drawings being employed only for the purpose of resolving an ambiguity found in the claims. Neither should it be interpreted in the sense that the claims serve only as a guideline and that the actual protection conferred may extend to what, from a consideration of the description and drawings by a person skilled in the art, the patent proprietor has contemplated. On the contrary, it is to be interpreted as defining a position between these extremes which combines a fair protection for the patent proprietor with a reasonable degree of certainty for third parties.

Equivalents

For the purpose of determining the extent of protection conferred by a patent, due account shall be taken of any element which is equivalent to an element specified in the claims.”.