Legislative Implementation of Flexibilities - Barbados
| Title: | Sections 17 (2) (a) and (b), 20 (1) (a), 23, 26 (1) (d), (2) and (3) and 27 (1) (d), (2), (3), (4) and (5) of the Patents Act No. 18 of 26/07/2001 |
| Field of IP: | Patents |
| Type of flexibility: | Disclosure related flexibilities |
| Summary table: |  |
Provisions of Law
17.-(2) An application must be in the prescribed form and must contain
(a) a petition as described in section 18;
(b) a description of the invention for which the patent is requested
(i) that is sufficiently clear and complete to enable the invention to be evaluated and tested by a person having ordinary skill in the art; and
(ii) that indicates at least one mode known to the applicant for using the invention;
23.-(1) An applicant for a patent shall, at the request of the Director, furnish the Director with
(a) the date and number of any other application for a patent or other title of protection made in an industrial or intellectual property office of any other country, or within a regional industrial or intellectual property office, in this section called a "foreign application", relating to the same or essentially the same invention as that claimed in the application filed with the Director;
(b) the following documents relating to foreign applications:
(i) a copy of any communication received by the applicant concerning the result of any search or examination carried out in respect of the foreign application;
(ii) a copy of the patent granted on the basis of the foreign application; and
(iii) a copy of any final decision rejecting the foreign application or refusing the patent requested in the foreign application; and
(c) a copy of any final decision invalidating the patent granted on the basis of the foreign application referred to in paragraph (b).
(2) The Director may not request the documents specified under subparagraphs (i) and (iii) of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) where the Intellectual Property Office has received an international preliminary examination report in accordance with the Patent Co-operation Treaty.
(3) Documents furnished pursuant to subsection (1)
(a) shall, if not in English, be accompanied by a translation thereof in English verified by the translator that the translation is to the best of his knowledge complete and faithful; and
(b) may be used only for facilitating the evaluation of the novelty and inventive step of the invention for which the patent application is made.
Examination 26.
(1) Where an application has been accorded a filing date, upon payment of the prescribed fee, the Director shall examine each application for a patent of invention to determine
(d) whether the description, claims and, if applicable, drawings comply with the prescribed physical requirements for descriptions, claims and drawings; and
(2) If, the Director determines that any requirement mentioned in subsection (1) has not been complied with, he shall require the applicant to make such corrections in his application as are necessary to comply with that requirement; and, if an applicant fails to make the required corrections, the Director shall, subject to subsection (3), refuse to grant the patent requested by the application.
(3) Where the correction required by the Director is the filing of an abstract, the Director may, upon payment of the prescribed fee, prepare the abstract for the application; but if the prescribed fee for an abstract remains unpaid after the expiration of the time prescribed for its payment, the Director shall refuse the requested patent.
27. (1) The Director shall examine each application for a patent of invention to determine
(d) whether the description and the claims for the invention are in compliance with the requirements of subsection (2) of section 17 and the regulations;
(2) If the Director determines that any requirement mentioned in subsection (1) has not been complied with in respect of an application, the Director shall notify the applicant accordingly and invite the applicant to submit any comments the applicant wishes to make regarding his failure to comply with that requirement; and an invitation made to an applicant under this section may include an invitation to amend or divide the application.
(3) Where, notwithstanding any comment, amendment or division of the application submitted to the Director by the applicant, the Director is of the opinion that a requirement mentioned in subsection (1) has not been complied with, the Director may refuse to grant a patent on that application; but any refusal to grant a patent and the reasons therefor must be communicated to the applicant in writing by the Director as soon as practicable.
(4) For the purposes of examination under subsection (1), the Director shall take into account
(a) the results of any international search and any International preliminary examination report submitted in accordance with the Patent Co-operation Treaty;
(b) any document submitted under paragraph (i) or (iii) of section 23(1)(b); or
(c) a search and examination report which was carried out upon the request of the Director by an external search and examination authority pursuant to subsection (5).
(5) For the purposes of the examination under this section the Director may transmit the application to a duly authorised authority with which an arrangement to that effect has been made by the Minister.