Patents Act 1994 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 20 · Miscellaneous and General
117. Transitional provisions
Feedback & supportWhere an application has been made under section 3 of the repealed Registration of United Kingdom Patents Act (Cap. 271, 1985 Revised Edition) before 23 February 1995, the Registrar may issue a certificate of registration under section 5 of that Act after that date as if that Act had not been repealed.
Registrar
“Registrar” means the Registrar of Patents and includes any Deputy Registrar of Patents holding office under this Act;
Where a patent has been granted under the United Kingdom Patents Act 1977 not earlier than 36 months before, or not later than 12 months after, 23 February 1995, the proprietor of the patent may, within a period of 24 months from that date, make an application for a certificate of registration and the Registrar may issue a certificate on such application as if the Registration of United Kingdom Patents Act had not been repealed.
patent
“patent” means a patent under this Act and includes a patent in force by virtue of section 117(3);
Any certificate of registration issued under section 5 of the repealed Registration of United Kingdom Patents Act and is in force immediately before 23 February 1995, or issued after that date by virtue of subsection (1) or (2) continues in force and the patent to which the certificate relates is treated for the purposes of this Act as if it were a patent under this Act granted pursuant to an application made under this Act and the proprietor of the patent accordingly has the same rights, remedies, privileges and obligations and subject to the same conditions (including the payment of any fee prescribed under section 36), as the proprietor of a patent under this Act subject to the following modifications:
the term of the patent dates from the date of the patent in the United Kingdom and the patent remains, subject to this Act, in force for 20 years from that date and only so long as the patent has not been revoked in the United Kingdom before 17 October 2001;
such other modifications as may be prescribed.
A patent to which subsection (3) applies is treated for the purposes of sections 14(3) and 17(2) as being granted on an application with a date of filing under this Act and published under this Act.
date of filing
“date of filing”, in relation to —(a)an application for a patent made under this Act, means the date of filing that application by virtue of section 26; and(b)any other application, means the date which, under the law of the country where the application was made or in accordance with the terms of a treaty or convention to which that country is a party, is to be treated as the date of filing that application in that country or is equivalent to the date of filing an application in that country (whatever the outcome of the application);
The date of filing an application for a patent as mentioned in subsection (4), and the priority date of an invention or other matter contained in that application, is to be determined in accordance with the provisions of the United Kingdom Patents Act 1949 or 1977, as the case may be.
priority date
“priority date” means the date determined as such under section 17;
Where an act is commenced before 23 February 1995 and continues to be done on or after that date, then, if it would not, under the law in force immediately before that date, amount to an infringement of a patent or the privileges or rights arising under a specification, its continuance on or after that date does not amount to the infringement of that patent or those privileges or rights.