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Patents Registration Act 1973 (Act No. 10 of 1973, as amended up to the Revised Written Laws Act 2021), Nauru

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Details Details Year of Version 2021 Dates Amended up to: June 1, 2021 Commenced: June 1, 1976 Enacted: October 25, 1973 Type of Text Main IP Laws Subject Matter Patents (Inventions) Subject Matter (secondary) Enforcement of IP and Related Laws, IP Regulatory Body

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 Patents Registration Act 1973 (Act No. 10 of 1973, as amended up to the Revised Written Laws Act 2021)

Patents Registration Act 1973

TABLE OF PROVISIONS

1     Short title and commencement
2     Interpretation
3     Registrar of Patents
4     Register
5     Who may apply for registration
6     Method of applying
7     Opposition
8     Registration and issue of certificate of registration
9     Privileges and rights conferred by registration
10   Co-ownership of patent rights
11   Power of Registrar to give directions to co-owners
12   Order for an account in action for infringement
13   Counterclaim for revocation in action for infringement
14   Proceedings for infringement by exclusive licensee
15   Remedy for groundless threats of infringement proceedings
16   Supreme Court may revoke registration
17   Patents connected with the phosphate industry
18   Special provisions as to vessels and aircraft
19   Registration of lapse, etc
20   Substitution of amended specifications
21   Registration of assignments, etc
22   Registrar may make corrections
23   Certificate and sealed copies to be evidence
24   Inspection, etc
25   Loss or destruction of certificate of registration
26   Patents Gazette
27   Offences
28   Costs in proceedings before Registrar and security for costs
29   Regulations
30   Rules of court for appeals

Patents Registration Act 1973

TABLE OF AMENDMENTS

The Patents Registration Act 1973 No 10 was certified on 25 October 1973 and commenced on 1 June 1976 (GN No 121/1976; Gaz 19/1976).

Amending Legislation               -     Certified          -          Date of Commencement
Civil Aviation Act 2011 N               -     25 February 2011     -     Sch [1]: 25 February 2011
Statute Law Revision Act 2011 No 8     -     15 April 2011     -     Sch 1[116]: 15 April 2011
Revised Written Laws Act 2021 No 7     -     1 June 2021     -     1 June 2021

An Act to provide for the registration of letters patent and of applications for letters patent and for the privileges and rights exercisable in the Republic upon such registration.

Enacted by the Parliament of Nauru as follows:

1 Short title and commencement

This Act may be cited as the Patents Registration Act 1973 and came into effect on 1 June 1976.

2 Interpretation

In this Act:

‘complete specification’ means a specification which:

(a) describes fully the invention in respect of which application is made in the country of principal registration for grant of a patent and the method by which it is to be performed;

(b) discloses the best method of performing that invention which is known to the applicant and for which he or she claims to be entitled to protection; and

(c) ends with a claim or claims defining the scope of that invention;

‘convention application’ means an application made as such to the appropriate authority in the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth of Australia or the United States of America for a patent for an invention in respect of which protection has been applied for in any other one of those countries or in any other convention country;

‘convention country’ means, in respect of an application for a patent made as a convention application to the appropriate authority in the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth of Australia or the United States of America, a country which the Government of the country in which such application is made has declared to be a convention country;

‘country of principal registration’ means, in relation to any patent or any application for the grant of a patent, the country by the appropriate authority of which that patent has been granted or to the appropriate authority of which that application for the grant of a patent has been made, as the case may be;

‘patent’ means letters patent for an invention granted by the appropriate authority in the Commonwealth of Australia, the United Kingdom or the United States of America and includes a patent of addition;

‘patentee’ means the person or persons for the time being entered in the Register of Patents maintained by the appropriate authority in the country of principal registration as the grantee or proprietor of a patent;

‘priority date’ means the date on which the complete specification was filed with the appropriate authority in the country of principal registration or, in the case of a convention application, the date on which the complete specification was first filed with the appropriate authority in a convention country in support of an application to protect the invention;

‘the Patents Gazette’ means the Patents Gazette published by the Registrar under Section 26 of this Act;

‘the appropriate authority’ means the person authorised by the laws of a country to grant patents in that country;

‘the Register’ means the Register of Patents kept as required by Section 4;

‘the Registrar’ means the Registrar of Patents appointed under Section 3; and

‘the Registry’ means the Registry of Patents established by Section 3.

3 Registrar of Patents

(1) There shall be a Registrar of Patents, appointed by the President, with an office to be called the Registry of Patents.

(2) The President may from time to time appoint such number of Assistant Registrars as may be required, who shall act under the control of the Registrar and have all the powers and duties of the Registrar.

(3) The Minister shall, by notice in the Gazette, prescribe a seal for use by the Registrar and the impressions of such seal shall be judicially noticed.

4 Register

(1) The Registrar shall keep at the Registry, a book to be known as the Register of Patents in which entries shall be made by or under the direction of the Registrar of the names and addresses of persons to whom certificates of registration are issued under this Act and of such other particulars as the Registrar deems necessary or is required by law to record.

(2) The Register shall be prima facie evidence of all matters recorded and entered there.

5 Who may apply for registration

(1) A person, who has made application to, and filed a complete specification in support of the application, the appropriate authority in the United Kingdom or the United States of America for the grant of a patent may, provided that such application has not been withdrawn by such person or the grant of the patent refused by the appropriate authority of that country, apply to the Registrar for the registration of such application in the Republic.

(2) The patentee of a patent may, within 3 years from the date of the grant of the patent in the country of principal registration, apply to the Registrar to have such patent registered in the Republic:
Provided that, during the 12 months next following the commencement of this Act, application may be made for the registration of a patent notwithstanding that more than 3 years may have elapsed since the grant of such patent in the country of principal registration.

6 Method of applying

(1) An application for registration of a patent, or of an application for a patent, under this Act shall be made to the Registrar in the prescribed manner and shall be accompanied by the prescribed fees, 2 certified copies of the specification or specifications, including drawings, if any, lodged in the country of principal registration:

(a) in the case of an application made pursuant to Section 5(1), a certified copy of the application; or

(b) in the case of an application made pursuant to Section 5(2), a certificate of the grant.

(2) In this Section a ‘certified copy’ and ‘certificate’ respectively mean a copy certified and a certificate issued by the appropriate authority in the country of principal registration.

7 Opposition

(1) Upon application for registration of a patent or of an application for a patent being received together with the fees and the documents mentioned in Section 6, the Registrar shall publish in the Patents Gazette such details of the application as may be prescribed and a person may at any time within 3 months from the date of such advertisement give notice to the Registrar of opposition to the registration.

(2) A notice under subsection (1) shall be in the prescribed form.

(3) The registration of a patent may be opposed on one or both of the following grounds:

(a) publication or use of the invention in the Republic before the priority date; or

(b) prior registration of a patent for the invention or of an application for a patent for the invention under this Act.

(4) The registration of an application for a patent may be opposed on any one or more of the following grounds:

(a) publication or use of the invention in the Republic before the priority date;

(b) prior registration of a patent for the invention or of an application for a patent for the invention under this Act;

(c) prior grant of a patent for the invention by the appropriate authority in the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth of Australia or the United States of America; or

(d) prior filing of a complete specification in support of an application for a patent for the invention with the appropriate authority in United Kingdom, the Commonwealth of Australia or the United States of America:
Provided:

(i) that the registration shall not be opposed on ground (c) or ground (d) unless, before notice of opposition is given, application has been made under this Act for the registration of the patent or the application for a patent, as the case may be, which is the subject-matter of that ground; or

(ii) where registration is refused on either of those grounds and on no other ground, such refusal shall be conditional upon the patent or the application for a patent which is the subject-matter of that ground being registered under this Act and, where any such application for a patent is so registered, upon any patent granted in respect of the application also being so registered; and, if any such condition is not complied with, the Registrar shall, subject to the provisions of Section 8(1), register the application.

(5) Where notice of opposition is given within the prescribed time, the Registrar shall transmit a copy of the notice to the applicant and, after hearing both parties if they wish to be heard and considering any submissions which they may make in writing, shall decide whether or not to register the application or the patent, as the case may be.

8 Registration and issue of certificate of registration

(1) If there is no opposition and the Registrar is satisfied from the documents lodged with the application that it is in order and, in the case of opposition, if the Registrar considers that there are no good grounds for such opposition, he or she shall, if the application is accompanied by the prescribed fees and the required documents:

(a) in the case of an application made pursuant to Section 5(1), register the application and issue to the applicant a certificate of registration of the application; and

(b) in the case of an application made pursuant to Section 5(2), register the patent and issue to the applicant a certificate of registration of the patent, and every such certificate shall be in the prescribed form and under his or her hand and seal.

(2) Upon registration of a patent, the registration in respect of the application for that patent shall lapse.

(3) The holder of a certificate of registration of an application may lodge with the Registrar any amended or additional documents, specifications or drawings lodged in the country of principal registration accompanied by a certificate of the grant and the prescribed fees; if he or she does so, the provisions of Section 7 shall apply as though there were a new application for registration. If there is no opposition or, in the case of opposition, if the Registrar considers that there are no good grounds for not doing so, he or she shall amend the original registration and issue a certificate of registration in the prescribed form under his or her hand and seal in substitution for the certificate previously issued, which shall be surrendered.

(4) The holder of a certificate of registration of a patent:

(a) shall pay on or before the anniversary in each year of the date on which the patent is registered, such annual fee as may be prescribed;

(b) if he or she fails to pay any such fee by the due date, the Registrar shall forthwith cancel the registration;

(c) publish in the Patents Gazette a notice of the cancellation; and

(d) the certificate of registration shall be deemed to have been cancelled and shall cease to be valid.

(5) Where a certificate of registration has been cancelled under subsection (4), the Registrar may, upon the application of the holder of the certificate made within 6 months of the cancellation and upon payment of the annual fee and such penalty as may be prescribed, if he or she is satisfied that no person’s proper interests will be prejudiced, renew the registration and publish a notice to that effect in the Patents Gazette; and the certificate of registration shall be valid again with effect from the date of such renewal:
Provided that:

(a) the Registrar shall, before renewing any registration under this Section, give notice in the Patents Gazette that application for such renewal has been made and he or she shall not renew the registration until after the expiration of a period of 21 days from the date of the publication of that notice; and

(b) for the purposes of subsection (4), the date in each year on which the annual fee is payable, shall be the date on which the patent was originally registered under subsection (1).

(6) A certificate of registration of an application issued under subsection (1)(a) shall be valid until:

(a) where the application is rejected, 1 month after the date of its final rejection; and

(b) where a patent is granted on the application, 6 months after such grant.

(7) For the purposes of subsection (6), an application is deemed not to have been finally rejected if an appeal against its rejection permitted by the laws of the country concerned has been commenced and has not been determined.

(8) Subject to subsections (4) and (5), a certificate of registration of a patent issued under subsection (1)(b) shall be valid from the date of its issue, or, where a certificate of registration of an application for the patent has been issued under subsection (1)(a), from the date of issue of that certificate, until the date which is the sixteenth anniversary of the date from which the term of the patent commenced in the country of principal registration or, if such patent lapses or is revoked in that country, to the date of such lapse or revocation:
Provided that, where a patent has lapsed in the country of principal registration but has subsequently been restored in that country, it shall, for the purposes of this Section, be deemed not to have suffered that lapse if notice of the restoration is given to the Registrar under Section 19, save that no action shall lie against a person for making, using or exercising the invention between the date of the lapse and the date on which notice of the restoration is given to the Registrar.

(9) Where an application for the registration of an application or of a patent, for the issue of a new certificate under subsection (3) or for the renewal of registration under subsection (5) is refused, the applicant may appeal within 28 days to the Supreme Court.

(10) The decision of the Supreme Court shall be final and no further appeal shall lie to any other court or tribunal.

9 Privileges and rights conferred by registration

(1) Where a certificate of registration of an application for a patent has been issued under Section 8, the person to whom it is issued, his or her executors, administrators and assigns shall, subject to the other provisions of this Act, have the sole right to obtain a certificate of registration of any patent relating to the invention concerned which is issued in the country of principal registration as the result of that application.

(2) Where a certificate of registration of a patent has been issued under Section 8, the person to whom it is issued, his or her executors, administrators, assigns and licensees, themselves or by their deputies, servants and agents, shall have the sole licence, power, privilege and authority to make, use, exercise and sell in the Republic the invention in respect of which the patent was granted in the country of principal registration.

(3) A licence, power, privilege and authority under this Section shall be held, exercised and enjoyed for such time as the certificate of registration is valid.

10 Co-ownership of patent rights

(1) Where a certificate of registration of a patent is granted to 2 or more persons, each of those persons shall, unless an agreement to the contrary is in force, be entitled to an equal undivided share in the privileges and rights conferred by the registration.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this Sections 10 and 11, where 2 or more persons are registered as grantees of a certificate of registration of a patent, then unless an agreement to the contrary is in force, each of those persons shall be entitled, by himself or herself or his or her agents, to make, use, exercise and vend the invention to which the certificate relates for his or her own benefit without accounting to the other or others.

(3) Subject to the provisions of Section 11 and to any agreement for the time being in force, a licence under a certificate of registration of a patent shall not be granted, and a share in the privileges and rights conferred by the registration of a patent shall not be assigned, except with the consent of all persons, other than the licensor or assignor, who are registered as grantees of the certificate of registration.

(4) Where an article is sold by 1 of 2 or more persons registered as grantees of a certificate of registration of a patent, the purchaser and a person claiming through him or her shall be entitled to deal with it in the same manner as if the article had been sold by a sole grantee of such certificate.

(5) Subject to the provisions of this Section, the rules of law applicable to the ownership and devolution of personal property generally shall apply in relation to patents as they apply in relation to other choses in action and nothing in subsection (1) or (2) shall affect the mutual rights or obligations of trustees or of the personal representatives of a deceased person, or their rights or obligations as such.

11 Power of Registrar to give directions to co-owners

(1) Where 2 or more persons are registered as grantees of a certificate of registration of a patent, the Registrar may, upon application made to him or her in the prescribed manner by any of those persons, give such directions in accordance with the application as to the sale or lease of the privileges and rights conferred by the registration or any of them, the grant of licences under the certificate of registration, or the exercise of any right under Section 10, as he or she thinks fit.

(2) If a person registered as grantee of the certificate of registration of the patent fails to execute any instrument or to do any other thing required for the carrying out of any direction given under this Section within 28 days after being requested in writing so to do by any of the other persons so registered, the Registrar may, upon application made to him or her in the prescribed manner by any such other person, give directions empowering a person to execute that instrument or to do that thing in the name and on behalf of the person in default.

(3) Before giving directions in pursuance of an application under this Section, the Registrar shall give an opportunity to be heard:

(a) in the case of an application under subsection (1), to the other person or persons registered as grantee of the certificate of registration of the patent; or

(b) in the case of an application under subsection (2), to the person in default.

(4) An appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court within 28 days from any decision or direction of the Registrar under this Section.

(5) The decision of the Supreme Court shall be final and no further appeal shall lie to any other court or tribunal.

(6) No directions shall be given under this Section so as to affect the mutual rights or obligations of trustees or of the personal representatives of a deceased person, or their rights or obligations as such.

12 Order for an account in action for infringement

In an action for infringement of privileges or rights conferred by a certificate of registration of a patent the plaintiff shall be entitled, at his or her option, to an account of profits in lieu of damages.

13 Counterclaim for revocation in action for infringement

A defendant in an action for infringement of a patent may, without presenting a petition, apply in accordance with rules of court by way of counterclaim in the action for revocation of the patent.

14 Proceedings for infringement by exclusive licensee

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Section, the holder of an exclusive licence under a certificate of registration of a patent shall have the like right as the grantee to take proceedings in respect of any infringement of the privileges or rights conferred thereby committed after the date of the licence and, in awarding damages or granting any other relief in any such proceedings, the Court shall take into consideration any loss suffered or likely to be suffered by the exclusive licensee as such or, as the case may be, the profits earned by means of the infringement so far as it constitutes an infringement of the rights of the exclusive licensee as such.

(2) In any proceedings taken by the holder of an exclusive licence by virtue of this Section, the grantee of the certificate of registration of the patent shall, unless he or she is joined as plaintiff in the proceedings, be added as defendant:
Provided that a grantee so added as defendant shall not be liable for any costs unless he or she enters an appearance and takes part in the proceedings.

15 Remedy for groundless threats of infringement proceedings

(1) Where a person, whether entitled to or interested in the registration of a patent or of an application for a patent or not, by circulars, advertisements or otherwise threatens any other person with proceedings for infringement of the privileges or rights conferred by the registration of a patent, a person aggrieved may bring an action against him or her for any such relief as is mentioned in subsection (2).

(2) Unless in any action brought by virtue of this Section the defendant proves that the acts in respect of which proceedings were threatened constitute or, if done, would constitute, an infringement of the privileges or rights conferred by the registration of a patent, the plaintiff shall be entitled to the following relief:

(a) a declaration to the effect that the threats are unjustifiable;

(b) an injunction against the continuance of the threats; and

(c) such damages, if any, as he or she has sustained.

(3) For the avoidance of doubt, it is declared that a mere notification of the existence of a certificate of registration of a patent or of an application for a patent does not constitute a threat of proceedings within the meaning of this Section.

16 Supreme Court may revoke registration

(1) Where an application for a patent has been registered under Section 8 and such application has been refused in the country of principal registration, the Supreme Court shall, upon application by any interested person or the Registrar, revoke the registration and the registration to which it related shall be deemed to have ceased to have force and effect from the date of such refusal.

(2) The Supreme Court shall have power, upon the application of a person who alleges that his or her interests have been prejudicially affected by the registration of a patent or of an application for a patent, to declare on any of the grounds upon which a United Kingdom patent may be revoked under the law in force in the United Kingdom at the commencement of this Act that the exclusive licence, power, privilege and authority conferred by such registration have not been acquired and to revoke the registration, provided that:

(a) no application may be made under this subsection on any ground on which the registration might have been opposed under Section 7; or

(b) where the Court considers that the applicant has been dilatory in taking proper steps to protect his or her interests and that the revocation of the registration is likely to cause an unreasonable loss to the person to whom the certificate of registration has been issued, it may:

(i) refuse to exercise its powers under this subsection; or

(ii) make the exercise of its powers conditional upon the payment of compensation for such loss by the applicant to the person to whom the certificate of registration has been issued.

(3) Where a person claims to have such an interest in any patent registered under Section 8 that if it had not already been registered, he or she would have been entitled to apply for its registration, the Supreme Court may, upon his or her application, annul the certificate of registration issued upon the registration and direct the Registrar to issue a new certificate of registration jointly to the applicant and the person to whom the original certificate was issued, or his or her executors, administrators or assigns.

(4) A certificate issued by the Registrar pursuant to a direction of the Supreme Court under subsection (3) shall bear the date of the registration of the patent or the application to which it relates and shall, for all purposes, be deemed to have been issued on that date.

17 Patents connected with the phosphate industry

The licence, powers, privileges and authority referred to in Section 9 shall, where a patent registered under Section 8 was granted for an invention relating to the mining, crushing, treatment or conveyance of phosphate rock or to any operation undertaken, or which may be undertaken, as part of the phosphate industry in the Republic, be subject to the Republic, RONPHOS and any other statutory corporation or any instrumentality of the Republic specified for the purpose of this Section by the Minister by notice in the Gazette having the power, privilege and authority to make, use and exercise the invention without the agreement of, or liability to make any payment to, the person in whose name the patent is registered or any other person.
[s 17 am Act 8 of 2011 s 12 and Sch 1[116], opn 15 Apr 2011]

18 Special provisions as to vessels and aircraft

(1) Where a vessel or aircraft registered in a country other than the Republic comes into the Republic, including the territorial waters, temporarily or accidentally only, the privileges and rights conferred by the registration of a patent for an invention shall not be deemed to be infringed by the use of the invention:

(a) in the body of the vessel or in the machinery, tackle, apparatus or other accessories, so far as the invention is used on board the vessel and for its actual needs only; or

(b) in the construction or working of the aircraft or of the accessories, as the case may be.

(2) [subs (2) rep Act 3 of 2011 s 183 and Sch[1], opn 25 Feb 2011]

19 Registration of lapse, etc

Every lapse, revocation and restoration after lapse in the country of principal registration of any patent registered under this Act may be notified in the prescribed manner by any interested person to the Registrar who shall, upon sufficient evidence of it being produced to him or her and on the payment of the prescribed fee, enter the same in the Register and issue a certificate in the prescribed form under his or her hand and seal with respect to such entry.

20 Substitution of amended specifications

Where the specification or drawings of a patent in respect of which a certificate of registration is issued under Section 8 is amended by way of disclaimer, correction or explanation according to the law of the country of principal registration, a request, which shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee, 2 copies of the specification or drawings, if any, as amended duly certified and such other information as may be prescribed, may be made to the Registrar to substitute copies of the specification or drawings as amended for the specification or drawings originally lodged and the Registrar shall, if he or she is satisfied that the amendment has been made to the patent in the country of principal registration, substitute the copies of the specification or drawings, if any, as amended for the specification or drawing originally lodged.

21 Registration of assignments, etc

(1) Where a person becomes entitled by assignment, transmission or other operation of law to any licence, power, privilege or authority held by virtue of Section 8 or to any interest, he or she may make application in the prescribed manner to the Registrar for such fact to be recorded in the Register.

(2) The Registrar shall upon his or her being satisfied of such fact and on payment of the prescribed fee enter such fact in the Register and endorse it on the certificate of registration, for which purpose he or she shall have power to require a person in whose possession it may be to produce it to him or her.

22 Registrar may make corrections

The Registrar may on application by any interested person made in the prescribed manner:

(a) correct any clerical error in any application or in any specification or drawing or any other error not affecting the substance of the application, specification or drawing;

(b) correct any clerical error in any matter entered in the Register, or any other error not affecting the substance of the matter;

(c) enter any change in the name, style or address of the person in whose name the patent is registered; and

(d) rectify the Register in respect of any matter wherein a court of competent jurisdiction in the country of principal registration has made an order, if he or she is satisfied that the order has been duly made.

23 Certificate and sealed copies to be evidence

(1) A certificate purporting to be under the hand and seal of the Registrar as to any entry, matter or thing which he or she is authorised by law to make or do, shall, unless the contrary be proved, be evidence of the entry having been made, and of the contents and of the matter or thing having been done or left undone.

(2) Printed or written copies or extracts purporting to be sealed by the appropriate authority in the country of principal registration of or from patents, specifications and other documents in the patents registry or office of that country and of or from registers and other books kept there shall be admissible in court and in all proceedings without further proof or production of the originals.

24 Inspection, etc

The Register shall, save as may be provided to the contrary by any other written law, be open to the inspection of the public between 9.00am and 5.00pm on all days other than Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays and certified copies signed and sealed by the Registrar of any entry in such register shall be given to a person upon application being received on the prescribed form accompanied by the prescribed fee.

25 Loss or destruction of certificate of registration

Where the Registrar is satisfied that a certificate of registration of a patent or of an application for a patent has been lost or destroyed or cannot be produced, he or she may at any time issue a duplicate, marked as such, under his or her hand and seal.

26 Patents Gazette

(1) The Registrar shall, at such times as may be prescribed, publish a bulletin to be known as the Patents Gazette.

(2) There shall be published in the Patents Gazette such matters as may be required by this Act or as may be prescribed and such other matters relating to applications for and grants of certificates of registration under Sections 7 and 8 as the Registrar thinks fit to publish.

(3) The Patents Gazette shall be available to members of the public, whether resident in the Republic or not, upon payment of the prescribed fee.

27 Offences

(1) A person who makes or causes to be made a false entry in the Register or a writing falsely purporting to be a copy of an entry in the Register or produces in evidence any such writing knowing such entry to be false or such writing not to be an accurate copy of an entry in the Register is guilty of an offence and is liable to imprisonment for a period of 2 years and a fine of $2,000.

(2) A person who falsely represents that any article sold, or offered or displayed for sale, by him or her is an article in relation to which an invention is the subject of a patent registered under this Act is guilty of an offence and is liable to a fine of $100.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2) a person who sells, or offers or displays for sale, an article having stamped, engraved or impressed or in any way applied the words ‘patent’, ‘patented’ or any other word expressing or implying that the article is patented shall be deemed to represent that article to be an article in relation to which an invention is the subject of a patent registered under this Act:
Provided that it shall be sufficient defence to show to the satisfaction of the court that the article was manufactured outside and imported into the Republic in the condition in which it was sold in the Republic and is in fact patented under the provisions of the law in force in the place where it was manufactured.

28 Costs in proceedings before Registrar and security for costs

(1) The Registrar may, in any proceedings before him or her under this Act, by order award to any party such costs as he or she may consider reasonable, and direct how and by what parties they are to be paid; and any such order shall be enforceable as though it were an order of the District Court.

(2) If any party by whom notice of any opposition is given under this Act to the grant of a licence under a patent or by whom application is made to the Registrar under Section 11 of this Act for directions or by whom notice of appeal is given from any decision of the Registrar under this Act neither resides nor carries on business in the Republic, the Registrar or, in the case of an appeal, a Judge may require him or her to give security for the costs of the proceedings before the Registrar or of the appeal, as the case may be, and in default of such security being given may treat the opposition, application or appeal as abandoned.

29 Regulations

The Cabinet may from time to time make regulations for all or any of the following purposes:

(a) prescribing the forms to be used under this Act;

(b) providing for and regulating the search and inspection of the Register;

(c) prescribing the matters to be published in the Patents Gazette and prescribing and regulating the publication of any documents or applications filed or presented or of any of the several matters done or required to be done in pursuance of this Act;

(d) prescribing the fees and fixing the charges to be made for any act, matter or thing to be done or observed under this Act, including penalty fees;

(e) otherwise regulating the practice of the Registry; and

(f) generally for the better carrying into effect of the provisions of this Act.

30 Rules of court for appeals

Where provision is made by this Act for appeals to lie to the Supreme Court from decisions of the Registrar, the Chief Justice may prescribe rules of court for the procedure to be followed and for all other matters pertaining and by such rules of court may provide for such appeals to be dealt with by a Judge in Chambers and for the appellants and the parties to such appeals to present their respective cases in writing.


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WIPO Lex No. NR046