Cap. 417 Art. 44Revocation of a patent.

(1) Any person who wishes that a patent be revoked may, after publication of the grant of the patent, file a notice for revocation either with the Comptroller or before the Patents

Tribunal.

(2) A notice for revocation of a patent filed with the

Comptroller may only be made:

(a) where the patent concerns an invention in respect of which, before the filing date or, where priority is claimed, before the priority date of the application of said patent, there already exists a published patent; or

(b) in respect of a patent where there is a priority claim, on the grounds that -

(i) the application for a patent on the basis of which priority was claimed was originally filed at another Patent Office more than one year before the filing date of the application of the patent in respect of which a notice for revocation has been filed with the Comptroller; and

(ii) the application on the basis of which priority was claimed or the resulting patent were published by the other Patent Office referred to in sub-paragraph (i) before the filing date of the application of the patent in respect of which a notice for revocation has been filed with the Comptroller: Provided that both the grounds in sub-paragraph (i) and sub-paragraph (ii) are cited in the case of a notice for revocation filed under paragraph (b).

(3) A notice for revocation on the above grounds may not be filed with the Patents Tribunal if it has already been filed before the Comptroller and vice versa.

(4) A notice for revocation filed directly before the Patents Tribunal may only be based on the following grounds:

(a) that the subject matter of the patent is not patentable within the terms of articles 4 to 7;

(b) that the patent does not disclose the invention in a manner sufficiently clear and complete for it to be carried out by a person skilled in the art as stipulated in article 15;

(c) that the right to the patent does not belong to the person to whom the patent was granted within the terms of articles 10 and 11;

(d) that the subject matter of the patent extends beyond the content of the application as filed or, if the patent was granted on a divisional application, beyond the content of the earlier application as filed subject to any action carried out under articles 20 and 41; and

(e) that the protection conferred by the patent has been extended by an amendment which should not have been allowed.

(5) A notice of revocation shall include:

(a) detailed grounds on the basis of which the revocation of the patent is being sought;

(b) a request for the patent to be revoked.

(6) A notice for revocation before the Comptroller or the Tribunal shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee where such a fee has been prescribed and -

(a) in the case of a notice of revocation filed on the basis of sub-article (2)(a), it shall also be accompanied by a certified copy of the published patent referred to in that paragraph;

(b) in the case of a notice of revocation filed on the basis of sub-articles (2)(b) and (4)(a) to (e), it is accompanied by certified copies of documentation substantiating the grounds referred to in the said paragraphs.

(7) Non-compliance with any of the above requirements shall render the notice for revocation inadmissible.

(8) If the grounds for revocation affect the patent only in part, any revocation pronounced shall be in the form of a corresponding limitation of the patent.

(9) A patent and the application on which it is based shall, to the extent that the patent has been revoked, be deemed to have been invalidated and never to have had the effects referred to in articles 27 and 28:

Provided that this shall not affect:

(a) any decision on infringement which has become final and has been enforced prior to the decision of revocation; or

(b) any contract concluded prior to the decision of revocation, in so far as it has been performed before that decision, subject to the right on grounds of equity of repayment to an extent justified by the circumstances, of sums paid under the relevant contract.