Patents Act, 1964

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR No. 12/1964

Number 12 of 1964.
PATENTS ACT, 1964
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
Part I.
Preliminary and General.
Section 1. Short title and commencement. 2. Interpretation. 3. Orders and rules. 4. Expenses. 5. Transitional provisions and repeals.
Part II.
Application, Investigation, Opposition, etc.
6. Persons entitled to apply for patent. 7. Application for patent. 8. Complete and provisional specifications. 9. Contents of specification. 10. Priority dates in relation to specifications. 11. Examination of application. 12. Search for anticipation by previous publication. 13. Further search for anticipation. 14. Reference in case of potential infringement. 15. Refusal of application in certain cases. 16. Supplementary provisions as to searches, etc. 17. Time for putting application in order for acceptance. 18. Acceptance and publication of complete specification. 19. Opposition to grant of patent. 20. Refusal of patent without opposition. 21. Mention of inventor as such in patent. 22. Substitution of applicants, etc.
Part III.
Grant, Restoration, Revocation and Surrender, etc., of Patent.
23. Grant and sealing of patent. 24. Amendment of patent granted to deceased applicant. 25. Effect and form of patent. 26. Date and term of patent. 27. Extension of term of patent. 28. Patents of addition. 29. Restoration of lapsed patents. 30. Restoration of lapsed applications for patents. 31. Amendment of specification with leave of Controller. 32. Amendment of specification with leave of the Court. 33. Supplementary provisions as to amendment of specification. 34. Revocation of patent by Court. 35. Revocation of patent by Controller. 36. Surrender of patent.
Part IV.
Voluntary and Compulsory Endorsement, Anticipation, and Provisions as to Rights in Inventions.
37. Endorsement of patent “licences of right”. 38. Cancellation of endorsement. 39. Compulsory endorsement or licence. 40. Provisions as to licences. 41. Endorsement, etc. on application of a Minister of State. 42. Inventions relating to food or medicine. 43. Revocation of patent after grant of licence. 44. Procedure on applications under sections 39 to 43. 45. Appeal and references to arbitrator. 46. Supplementary provisions as to licences. 47. Previous publication. 48. Previous communication display or working. 49. Use and publication after provisional specification or foreign application. 50. Priority date in case of obtaining. 51. Co-ownership of patents. 52. Power of Controller to give directions to co-owners. 53. Disputes as to inventions made by employees. 54. Avoidance of certain conditions attached to the sale, etc., of patented articles.
Part V.
Proceedings for Infringement of Patents.
55. Restrictions on recovery of damages for infringement. 56. Order for account in action for infringement. 57. Counterclaim for revocation in action for infringement. 58. Relief for infringement of partially valid specification. 59. Proceedings for infringement by exclusive licensee. 60. Certificate of contested validity of specification. 61. Remedy for groundless threats of infringement proceedings. 62. Power of Court to make declaration as to non-infringement.
Part VI.
Register of Patents.
63. Register of patents. 64. Registration of assignments, etc. 65. Power of Court to amend register. 66. Power to correct clerical errors, etc. 67. Certificate of Controller and sealed copies of documents in Office to be evidence. 68. Requests for information as to patent or patent application. 69. Restriction upon publication of specifications, etc. 70. Loss or destruction of patents.
Part VII.
Proceedings before the Controller or the Court.
71. Exercise of discretionary power by Controller. 72. Costs and security for costs. 73. Evidence before Controller. 74. Hearing by Court with assessor. 75. Appeals from decisions of Controller. 76. Costs of Controller in Court proceedings.
Part VIII.
The Office and the Controller.
77. Patents Office. 78. Controller of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks. 79. Appointment of officers of Controller. 80. Fees. 81. Official Journal. 82. Reports to be privileged. 83. Controller may consult Attorney General. 84. Annual report. 85. Hours of business and excluded days.
Part IX.
Miscellaneous.
86. Patent agents. 87. Falsification of register, etc. 88. Unauthorised claim of patent rights. 89. False suggestion of official connection with the Office. 90. Inventions relating to instruments or munitions of war. 91. Assignment of invention or patent to a Minister of State. 92. Use of patented inventions for the service of the State. 93. Government orders as to convention countries. 94. Supplementary provisions as to convention applications. 95. Special provisions as to vessels, aircraft and land vehicles. 96. Power of Minister to make rules. 97. Power of Minister to delegate his duties under this Act. 98. Service of notices, etc., by post. 99. Saving for articles forfeited under laws relating to the customs or excise.
FIRST SCHEDULE
Enactments Repealed
SECOND SCHEDULE
Transitional Provisions.
Acts Referred to Industrial and Commercial Property (Protection) Act, 1927 1927, No. 16. Arbitration Act, 1954 1954, No. 26. The Public Offices Fees Act, 1879 1879, c. 58. Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851 1851, c. 93. Solicitors Act, 1954 1954, No. 36.
Number 12 of 1964.
PATENTS ACT, 1964
AN ACT TO MAKE NEW PROVISION IN RESPECT OF PATENTS AND RELATED MATTERS IN SUBSTITUTION FOR THE PROVISIONS OF THE INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL PROPERTY (PROTECTION) ACT, 1927 , RELATING TO PATENTS AND OF OTHER ENACTMENTS RELATING TO PATENTS, AND TO PROVIDE FOR OTHER MATTERS CONNECTED WITH THE MATTERS AFORESAID. [24th June, 1964.]
BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:—
PART I. Preliminary and General.
	Short title and commencement.	1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Patents Act, 1964.
	(2) This Act shall come into operation on such day as the Minister may by order appoint.
	Interpretation.	2.—In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—
	“the Act of 1927” means the Industrial and Commercial Property (Protection) Act, 1927 ;
	“applicant”, in relation to an application, means the person making the application and includes a person in whose favour a direction has been given under section 22 of this Act, and the personal representative of a deceased applicant;
	“article” includes any substance or material, and any plant, machinery or apparatus, whether affixed to land or not;
	“assignee” includes the personal representative of a deceased assignee, and references to the assignee of any person include references to the assignee of the personal representative or assignee of that person;
	“commercially worked” means the manufacture of the article or the carrying on of the process described and claimed in a specification for a patent in or by means of a definite and substantial establishment or organisation, and on a scale which is adequate and reasonable in all the circumstances;
	“the Controller” means the Controller of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks appointed under this Act;
	“convention application” has the meaning assigned to it by subsection (3) of section 6 of this Act;
	“convention country” has the meaning assigned to it by subsection (1) of section 93 of this Act;
	“the Court” means the High Court;
	“date of filing”, in relation to any document filed under this Act, means the date on which the document is filed or, where it is deemed by virtue of any provision of this Act or of rules made thereunder to have been filed on any different date, means the date on which it is deemed to be filed;
	“exclusive licence” means a licence from a patentee which confers on the licensee, or on the licensee and persons authorised by him, to the exclusion of all other persons (including the patentee), any right in respect of the invention, and “exclusive licensee” shall be construed accordingly;
	“invention” means any new and useful art, process, machine, manufacture or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement in any art, process, machine, manufacture or composition of matter, and includes an alleged invention and also any new method or process of testing applicable to the improvement or control of manufacture;
	“the Journal” means the journal issued by the Controller pursuant to section 81 of this Act;
	“the Minister” means the Minister for Industry and Commerce;
	“the Office” means the Patents Office established by the Act of 1927 and continued in being by section 77 of this Act;
	“patent” means letters patent for an invention;
	“patent of addition” means a patent granted in accordance with section 28 of this Act;
	“patentee” means the person or persons for the time being entered on the register of patents as grantee or proprietor of the patent;
	“prescribed” means, in the case of...