Patents Act 1994 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 8 · Property in Patents and Applications for Patents and Registration
41. Nature of, and transactions in, patents and applications for patents
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Any patent or application for a patent is personal property (without being a thing in action), and any patent or any such application and rights in or under it may be transferred, created or granted in accordance with this section.
patent
“patent” means a patent under this Act and includes a patent in force by virtue of section 117(3);
Subject to section 46(3), any patent or any such application, or any right in it, may be assigned or mortgaged.
right
“right”, in relation to any patent or application, includes an interest in the patent or application and, without prejudice to the foregoing, any reference to a right in a patent includes a reference to a share in the patent;
Any patent or any such application or right vests by operation of law in the same way as any other personal property and may be vested by an assent of personal representatives.
Subject to section 46(3), a licence may be granted under any patent or any such application for working the invention which is the subject of the patent or the application; and —
to the extent that the licence so provides, a sub-licence may be granted under any such licence and any such licence or sub-licence may be assigned or mortgaged; and
any such licence or sub-licence vests by operation of law in the same way as any other personal property and may be vested by an assent of personal representatives.
Subsections (2) to (4) have effect subject to the provisions of this Act.
Any of the following transactions, that is to say —
any assignment or mortgage of a patent or any such application, or any right in a patent or any such application;
any assent relating to any patent or any such application or right,shall be void unless it is in writing and is signed by or on behalf of the assignor or mortgagor (or, in the case of an assent or other transaction by a personal representative, by or on behalf of the personal representative) or in the case of a body corporate is so signed or is under the seal of that body.
An assignment of a patent or any such application or a share in it, and an exclusive licence granted under any patent or any such application, may confer on the assignee or licensee the right of the assignor or licensor to bring proceedings by virtue of section 67 or 76 for a previous infringement or to bring the proceedings under section 58 for a previous act.
exclusive licence
“exclusive licence” means a licence from the proprietor of or applicant for a patent conferring on the licensee, or on the licensee and persons authorised by the licensee, to the exclusion of all other persons (including the proprietor or applicant), any right in respect of the invention to which the patent or application relates, and “exclusive licensee” and “non-exclusive licence” are to be construed accordingly;