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Legislative Implementation of Flexibilities - Saint Lucia

Title:Sections 24 and 25 of the Patents Act No. 16 of 27/08/2001
Field of IP:Patents
Type of flexibility:Substantive examination
Summary table:PDF

Provisions of Law

Examination as to form

24.- (1) Where an application for a patent has a date of filing and is not withdrawn or treated as having been abandoned, the Registrar shall, as soon as practicable after the end of the prescribed period, examine the application so as to determine whether the application complies with those requirements pursuant to this Act which are designated by the Regulations as formal requirements for the purposes of this Act.

(2) Where, after an examination under subsection (1), it is determined that not all the formal requirements are complied with, the Registrar shall give the applicant an opportunity to make observations and to amend the application within such period as the Registrar may specify so as to comply with those requirements, subject, however, to section 80, and if the applicant fails to do so, the Registrar may refuse the application

Search and examination and corresponding international applications

25.-(1) Where an application for a patent complies with all the formal requirements referred to in section 24(1), the Registrar shall notify the applicant who shall

(a) file a request in the prescribed form and pay the prescribed fee for a search report within the prescribed period;

(b) file a request in the prescribed form and pay the prescribed fee for a search and examination report within the prescribed period; or

(c) where the applicant has filed, alone or jointly with any other person, a corresponding international application for a patent, not designating Saint Lucia, or a corresponding application for a patent at any prescribed patent office, furnish such detail as prescribed and within the prescribed period, of all the corresponding international applications and the other corresponding applications filed by him or her;

and if the applicant fails to make such request, pay the prescribed fee or furnish the prescribed detail within the prescribed period, the application shall be treated as having been abandoned at the end of the period prescribed under paragraph (a), (b) or (c), whichever is the latest.

(2) Where the applicant has filed a request and paid the fee under subsection (1) (a), the Registrar shall cause the application to be subject to a search by an examiner to discover the relevant prior art contained in such documentation as may be prescribed.

(3) Upon receipt of the report of the search carried out under subsection (2), the Registrar shall send to the applicant a copy of the report, and the applicant may, within the prescribed period, file a request and pay the prescribed fee for an examination report on the application so as to determine whether the conditions specified in sections 9 and 21(4) and (5) have been complied with, taking into consideration all the relevant prior art, if any, referred to in the search report; and upon receipt of the report, the Registrar shall send to the applicant a copy of the report.

(4) Where the applicant has furnished the prescribed details under subsection (1) (c), he or she shall, subject to subsection (5), within the prescribed period, file the prescribed information in or translated into the English Language relating to any one of the corresponding international applications or other corresponding applications referred to in subsection (1) (c).

(5) The applicant may, instead of filing the prescribed information referred to in subsection (4), within the prescribed period, either:

(a) file a copy of a search report in respect of any one of the corresponding international applications or other corresponding applications referred to in subsection (1) (c), together with a request in the prescribed form and the prescribed fee, for an examination report; or

(b) file a request in the prescribed form and pay the prescribed fee for a search and examination report.

(6) Where the applicant has filed a request and paid the fee under subsection (1) (b) or (5) (b), the Registrar shall cause the application to be subject to:

(a) a search by an examiner to discover the relevant prior art contained in such documentation as may be prescribed;

(b) an examination by an examiner so as to determine whether the conditions specified in sections 9 and 21 (4) and (5) have been complied with, taking into consideration all the relevant prior art, if any, discovered in the search, and upon receipt of the search and examination report, the Registrar shall send to the applicant a copy of the report.

(7) Where the applicant has filed a request and paid the fee under subsection (5) (a), the Registrar shall cause the application to be subject to an examination by an examiner so as to determine whether the conditions specified in sections 9 and 21 (4) and (5) have been complied with, taking into consideration all the relevant prior art, if any, referred to in the search report and upon receipt of the examination report, the Registrar shall send to the applicant a copy of the report.

(8) Where an international application for a patent (Saint Lucia) has been filed by the applicant and the international preliminary examination report is not established, the applicant may, within the prescribed period file a request in the prescribed form and pay the prescribed fee, for an examination report on the application so as to determine whether the conditions specified in sections 9 and 21 (4) and (5) have been complied with, taking into consideration all the relevant prior art, if any, referred to in the international search report, and upon receipt of the examination report, the Registrar shall send to the applicant a copy of the report.

(9) For the purposes of this Part, "corresponding international application" and "corresponding application", in relation to an invention, mean an application for protection filed, respectively, under the Patent Co-operation Treaty or with any prescribed patent office in respect of the same or substantially the same invention as that which is the subject of the application in suit, the application filed under the Patent Co-operation Treaty or with the prescribed patent office being

(a) the basis for a priority claim pursuant to section 13 in the application in suit; or

(b) subject to a priority claim based on the application in suit or an application which is also the basis for a priority claim pursuant to section 13 in the application in suit.

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