CHAPTER 324
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RULES
(SECTION 58)
[Commencement 8th June, 1967]
PART I PRELIMINARY
1. These Rules may be cited as the Industrial Property Rules.
Interpretation
2. (1) In the construction of these Rules, any wordsherein used the meaning of which is defined by the Act orthe Interpretation and General Clauses Act, as amended, shall have the mean-ings thereby assigned to them.
(2) In these Rules —
“agent” means an agent duly authorised to the satisfaction of the Registrar General;
“Deposit List” means deposit list of designs;
“Office” means the Industrial Property Office of the Registrar General’s Department;
“Register” means the register of patents.
(3) Any reference in these Rules to a section orsubsection shall be read and construed as a reference to a section or subsection of the Industrial Property Act. - The fees to be paid in pursuance of the Act shallbe the fees specified in the First Schedule to these Rules.
- The forms herein referred to are the forms contained in the Second Schedule to these Rules and such forms shall be used in all cases to which they are applicable and shall be modified as directed by the Registrar Generalto meet other cases.
- S.I.
- 33/1967
- S.I.
- 96/1975
- S.I.
- 70/1983
- S.I.
- 34/2003
- S.I.
- 54/2004
Citation.
Interpretation.
Ch. 2. - S.I.
- 96/1975.
- S.I.
- 96/1975.
Fees.
Forms.
Documents
Size, etc., of documents.
Service of documents.
Address.
Agents. - Subject to any other directions that may be given by the Registrar General in any particular case, all applications, notices, papers having representations affixed, and other documents lodged under the Act or these Rules, other than drawings supplied in connection with applications for Letters Patent, shall be upon foolscap paper of a size approximately 13 inches by 8 inches, on one side only, and shall have on the left hand part thereof amargin of not less than one inch and a half.
- Any application, notice or other document sent to the Department by post shall be deemed to have been given, made or filed at the time when the letter containing the document would be delivered in the ordinary course of post.
7 (1) Every person concerned in any proceedings to which these Rules relate and every patentee and every proprietor of claim for design copyright shall furnish to the Registrar General an address for service in The Bahamas and that address may be treated for all purposes connected with such proceedings or patent or claim for design copyright as the address of the person concerned in the proceedings or the patentee or the proprietor of the claim for design copyright as the case may be. - (2)
- The address given shall in all cases be as full as possible for the purpose of enabling any person easily to find the place of business or of residence (as the case may be) of the person whose address is given.
- (3)
- When a person does not carry on business orreside in a town with streets, the Registrar General may require the address to include all indications which he thinks necessary for the purpose set out in paragraph (2)above.
- (4)
- When a person carries on business or resides ina town where there are streets, the address given shall include the name of the street and the number in the street or name of premises, if any.
Agents
8. (1) With the exception of documents mentioned in paragraph (2) and unless the Registrar General otherwise directs in any particular case all notices, applications or other documents filed under the Act may be signed by and all attendances upon the Registrar General may be made by or through an agent duly authorised to the satisfaction of the Registrar General. | |
(2) The following documents are excepted from paragraph (1): the authorisation of an agent, an applicationfor a patent or for the grant of a patent of addition in lieu ofan independent patent; a claim for design copyright; and an application, request, notice, claim or declaration on any of the following forms, namely Forms numbers 3, 4, 9, 11, 12 and 20. | |
(3) Where an agent is authorised as aforesaid service upon such agent of any document relating to the matter in respect of which such agent has been authorised shall be deemed to be service upon the person so appointing him, and all communications directed to be made to such person in respect of such matter may be addressed to such agent. | |
(4) The Registrar General shall not be bound to recognise as such agent any person who has been convictedcriminally or struck off the Roll of Counsel and Attorneys or who is an undischarged bankrupt. | |
PART II | |
PATENTS | |
Applications for the Grant of Patents | |
9. (1) An application for a patent shall be madeon Form No. 1. | Form of application. Form 1. |
(2) In the case of an application by the assignee of the person claiming to be the true and first inventor there shall be furnished at the time of filing such application orwithin a period of three months thereafter the declarationrequired by section 6(2). | |
(3) An application for the grant of a Patent of Addition in lieu of an independent patent shall be made on Form No. 1 Add. | Form No. 1 Add. |
Application by personal representatives.
Translation of documents.
Application by firm or company.
To accompany specification.
Material.
Size. - In the case of an application by the personalrepresentative of a deceased person who, immediately before his death, was entitled to make such an applicationthe probate of the will of the deceased, or the letters of administration of his estate, or an official copy of the probate or letters of administration, shall be produced at the Department in proof of the applicant’s title to act as personal representative.
- If any specification or other document relating to an application for a patent is in a foreign language, it shall be accompanied by a translation thereof verified by affidavit or otherwise to the satisfaction of the Registrar General.
- (1) If an application for a patent is made by a firm or partnership it may be signed in the name of or forand on behalf of the firm or partnership by any one or more members thereof.
(2) If the application be made by a body corporate it may be signed by a Director or by the Secretary or otherprincipal officer of such body corporate.
Drawings - Drawings when supplied shall be furnished in duplicate and shall accompany the specification to whichthey refer.
- (1) Drawings shall be hand-made or reproduced on white, hot-pressed, rolled or calendered strong drawing paper of smooth surface, good quality and medium thickness, without washes or colours, in such a way as to admit of being clearly reproduced on a reduced scale by photography or, without any intermediary steps on a stereotype.
- (2) Mounted drawings may not be used.
- (1) Drawings shall be on sheets which measure 13 inches from top to bottom and are either from 8¼ inches to 84inches or from 16 inches to 16¼ inches wide and a clear margin of half an inch shall be left at the edges of the sheet.
- (2)
- If there are more figures than can be shown on one of the smaller sized sheets, two or more of these sheets shall be used unless the larger size is required by the size of any one figure.
- (3)
- An exceptionally large figure may be continued on subsequent sheets.
- (4)
- No more sheets shall be employed than are necessary.
- (5)
- The figures shall be numbered consecutivelywithout regard to the number of sheets, and shall as far as possible be arranged in numerical order, separated by a sufficient space to keep them distinct.
- (6)
- Where figures on a number of sheets form in effecta single complete figure, they shall be so arranged that the complete figure can be assembled without concealing any part of another figure.
16. Drawings shall be prepared in accordance with the following requirements — - (a)
- they shall be executed in durable very darkmarkings;
- (b)
- each line shall be firmly and evenly drawn, sharply defined, and of the same strengththroughout;
- (c)
- section lines, lines for effect, and shading lines shall be as few as possible and shall not be closely drawn;
- (d)
- shading fines shall not contrast excessively inthickness with the general lines of the drawing;
- (e)
- sections and shading shall not be represented by solid black or washes;
- (f)
- they shall be on a scale sufficiently large toshow the invention clearly, and only so much of the apparatus, machine or article may appear as effects this purpose;
- (g)
- if the scale is given, it shall be drawn and notdenoted by words, and no dimension may be marked on the drawings;
- (h)
- the figures shall be drawn in an upright position in regard to the top and bottom of the sheet;
- (i)
- reference letters and numerals, and index letters and numerals used in conjunction therewith, shall be bold, distinct and not less than one-eighth of an inch in height, the same letters ornumerals shall be used in different views of the same parts, and where the reference letters or numerals are shown outside the parts referred to they shall be connected with the said parts by fine lines.
Draughtsmanship requirements.
Marking of drawings.
No descriptive matter on constructional drawings.
Drawings to be unmarked.
Examiner’s fee.
S.I. 96/1975.
First Schedule.
Division under section 10(3).
17. (1) Drawings shall bear — - (a)
- in the left-hand top corner the name of the applicant;
- (b)
- in the right-hand top corner the number of sheetsof drawings sent and the consecutive number of each sheet and the words “original” or “duplicate” as the case may require;
- (c)
- in the right-hand bottom corner the signature of the applicant or his agent.
(2) The title of the invention shall not appear on the drawings.
18. (1) No descriptive matter shall appear on constructional drawings, but drawings in the nature of flow sheets may bear descriptive matter to show the materialsused and the chemical or other reactions or treatments effected in carrying out the invention. - (2)
- Drawings showing a number of instruments or units of apparatus and their interconnections, eithermechanical or electrical, where each such instrument or unit is shown only symbolically, may bear such descriptive matter as is necessary to identify the instruments or units or their interconnections.
- (3)
- No drawing or sketch other than a graphicchemical formula or a mathematical formula, symbol or equation, shall appear in the verbal part of the specification.
- Drawings shall be delivered at the Department free from folds, breaks or creases which would render them unsuitable for reproduction by photography.
- Where the Registrar General refers the application and specification to an examiner under section 10(1), there shall be paid by the applicant the examiner’s fee specified at item 2 of the First Schedule.
Divisions and Ante-dating of Applications
21. (1) Subject to the approval of the Registrar General an applicant may on his own initiative divide his application by limiting the claims of the specification andfiling a divisional application or applications in respect of subject matter which has thus been excluded from the claims, and preserve as the date of each divisional application (and the specification filed in pursuance thereof) the date of the initial application and the benefit of the right of convention priority, if any, and the Registrar General may direct accordingly provided that — - (a)
- such division is made before the acceptance of the specification;
- (b)
- the filing of the divisional application orapplications takes place within two months of effecting the limitation of the claims of the first application;
- (c)
- the application which is sought to be divided isnot itself an application which has been divided from another application under section 10(3) of the Act or an application which has been antedated under section 10(7) of the Act.
(2) Each divisional application shall be examined in accordance with the provisions of section 10 of the Act, and shall otherwise be proceeded with as a substantive application in accordance with the Act and these Rules.
22. (1) Where an applicant has made an application for a patent, and before the acceptance of the specification,makes a fresh application for a patent for matter included in the first mentioned application or the specification filedin pursuance thereof the Registrar General may direct that the fresh application and specification filed in pursuance of that application shall be ante-dated to the date of filing of the first mentioned application if the applicant includes in the fresh application a request to that effect.
(2) The Registrar General may require such amendment of the specification filed in pursuance of either of the said applications as may be necessary to ensure that neither of the said specifications includes a claim for matterclaimed in the other.
Request for Post-dating an Application
23. Where an applicant for a patent desires that hisapplication shall be post-dated in pursuance of the provisions of section 10(6) he shall make a request on Form No. 3.
Ante-dating under section 10(7).
Post-dating of application.
Form 3.
Request for issue.
Form 4.
Extension of time.
Form 5.
Form of patent.
Payable as from
end of 4th year.
Form 6.
Payable in
advance.
Extension of
time.
Form 7.
Certificate of
payment.
Form 8.
Reminder.
Issue and Form of Patent - A request for the issue of a patent on a application shall be made on Form No. 4.
- An application under section 12(2) for theextension of the period for making a request for the issue of a patent shall be made on Form No. 5.
- A patent shall be in the Form A or B (whichever is applicable) set out in Part II of the Second Schedule to these Rules or such modification of either of these forms as the Registrar General directs.
Renewal Fees - The prescribed renewal fees shall be paid byfiling Form No. 6 before the expiration of the fourth year from the date of a patent and thereafter before the expiration of each successive year during the term of the patent or before the expiration of such extended period as may be allowed upon an application under rule 29.
- All or any of the prescribed annual renewal feesmay be paid in advance.
- A request for extension of the period for payment of any renewal fee shall be made on Form No. 7.
- On due compliance with the terms of rule 27 the Registrar General shall issue a Certificate on Form No. 8 that the prescribed fee has been duly paid.
- At any time not less than one month before the date when any renewal fee will become due in respect of any patent, the Registrar General shall send to the patentee or patentees at this or their address for service and to the address of the person or persons who paid the last renewal fee, a notice reminding him or them of thedate when such fee will become due and of the consequences of the non-payment thereof.
Restoration of Lapsed Patents and Lapsed Applications for Patents (Sections 15 and 16) - An application under section 15 for restorationof a patent shall be made on Form No. 25 and shall beaccompanied by evidence in support of the statementsmade in the application.
- (1) If upon consideration of the evidence, the Registrar General is not satisfied that a prima facie case for an order under section 15 has been made out, he shall notify the applicant accordingly and, unless within one month the applicant requests to be heard in the matter, the Registrar General shall refuse the application.
(2) If the applicant requests a hearing within the time allowed, the Registrar General after giving the applicant an opportunity of being heard, shall determine whether the application may proceed to advertisement orwhether it shall be refused.
34. (1) At any time within two months of theadvertisement of the application under section 15(4), any person may give notice of opposition thereto on Form No.
26. - (2)
- Such notice shall be accompanied by a copy thereof and shall be supported by a statement (in duplicate) setting out fully the nature of the opponent’s interests andthe facts upon which he relies.
- (3)
- A copy of the notice and of the statement shall be sent by the Registrar General to the applicant.
- If the applicant desires to proceed with hisapplication, he shall, within three months of the receipt of such copies, file a counter-statement setting out fully the grounds upon which the opposition is contested and deliver to the opponent a copy thereof.
- The opponent may, within three months from thereceipt of the copy of the counter-statement, file evidence insupport of his case and shall deliver to the applicant acopy of the evidence.
Application for restoration of patent.
S.I. 96/1975.
Form 25.
Refusal of application.
S.I.. 96/1975.
Notice of opposition.
S.I. 96/1975.
Form 26.
Applicant’s counter-statement.
S.I. 96/1975
Opponent’s filing of evidence.
S.I. 96/1975.
Applicant’s evidence and opponent’s evidence in reply.
S.I 96/1975.
Further evidence.
S.I. 96/1975
Copies of documents to be supplied.
S.I 96/1975.
Hearing.
S.I. 96/1975.
Form 10. - Within three months from the receipt of the copy of the opponent’s evidence, or, if the opponent does not fileany evidence, within three months from the expiration of the time within which the opponent’s evidence might havebeen filed, the applicant may file evidence in support of his case and shall deliver to the opponent a copy of theevidence; and within three months from the receipt of the copy of the applicant’s evidence, the opponent may fileevidence confined to matters strictly in reply and shalldeliver to the applicant a copy of the evidence.
- No further evidence shall be filed by either partyexcept by leave or direction of the Registrar General.
- (1) Copies of all documents referred to in the notice of opposition or in any statement or evidence filed in connection with the opposition, authenticated to the satisfaction of the Registrar General, shall be furnished (in duplicate) for the Registrar General’s use unless he otherwise directs. Such copies shall accompany the notice, statement or evidence in which they are referred to.
(2) Where a specification or other document in a foreign language is referred to, a translation thereof, verified by statutory declaration or otherwise to the satisfaction of the Registrar General, and one additional copy of the translation, shall also be furnished.
40. (1) On completion of the evidence (if any) or at such time as he may see fit, the Registrar General shallappoint a time for the hearing of the case, and shall give the parties at least 14 days’ notice of the appointment. - (2)
- If either party desires to be heard, he shall notify the Registrar General on Form No. 10 and the RegistrarGeneral may refuse to hear either party who has not filed the said form prior to the date of the hearing.
- (3)
- If either party intends to refer at the hearing toany publication not already mentioned in the proceedings, he shall give to the other party and to the Registrar Generalat least ten days’ notice of his intention, together with details of each publication to which he intends to refer.
- (4)
- After hearing the party or parties desiring to beheard or if neither party desires to be heard, then, without a hearing, the Registrar General shall decide the case and notify his decision to the parties.
- If the Registrar General decides in favour of theapplicant, he shall notify him accordingly and require him tofile Form No. 27 together with Form No. 6 accompanied by fees to the amount of the unpaid renewal fees.
- In every order of the Registrar General undersection 16 restoring a patent the following provision shall be inserted for the protection of persons who have begun to avail themselves of the patented invention between the datewhen the patent ceased to have effect and the date of the application —
“(1) No action or other proceeding shall be commenced or prosecuted nor any damage recovered in respect of any manufacture use or sale of the invention the subject of the patent in the interim period as hereinafter defined by any person not being a licensee under the patent at the date when it ceased to have effect, the ...................... who after such date and before the ....................... the date of the application has made, used, exercised or sold the invention the subject of the patent or has manufactured orinstalled any plant, machinery or apparatus claimed in the specification of the patent or for carrying out a method orprocess so claimed. Any such person shall be deemed to have so acted with the licence of the patentee and shall thereafter be entitled to continue to make, use, exercise or sell the invention, without infringement of the patent to the extent hereinafter specified that is to say — - (a)
- In so far as the specification of the patentclaims an article (other than plant, machinery or apparatus or part thereof as specified under head (b) hereof) and any article soclaimed has been manufactured by him during the said interim period, that particular article may at all times be used or sold.
- (b)
- In so far as the specification claims any plant, machinery or apparatus or part thereof for the production of an article,then any particular plant, machinery or apparatus or part thereof so claimed, which has been manufactured or installed by him during the said interim period, and the products thereof, may at all times be used or sold and so that in the event of any such plant, machinery, apparatus or part thereof
Decision favourable to applicant.
S.I. 96/1975.
Form 27.