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Restoration of lapsed patents (section 37 of Principal Act).
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10.— The Principal Act is amended in section 37—
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(a) by substituting the following for subsection (7):
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“(7) An order under this section for the restoration of a patent may be made subject to such conditions as the Controller thinks fit, including, in particular, a condition requiring the entry in the register of any matter in respect of which the provisions of this Act as to entries in the register is not complied with and if any condition to which an order under this section is subject is not complied with by the proprietor of the patent, the Controller may revoke the order and give such directions consequential on the revocation as he thinks fit.”,
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and
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(b) by inserting the following after subsection (7):
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“(8) An order under this section for the restoration of a patent shall have the following effect:
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(a) anything done under or in relation to the patent during the period beginning on the date on which the patent lapsed and ending on the date of an order under this section shall be treated as valid;
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(b) anything done during the period referred to in paragraph (a) which would have constituted an infringement if the patent had not lapsed shall be treated as an infringement—
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(i) if it was done at a time when it was possible for the patent to be renewed during the period of extension specified for the purpose of section 36(3), or
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(ii) if it was a continuation or repetition of an earlier infringing act;
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(c) where, after the expiration of the period of extension specified for the purpose of section 36(3) and before the date of publication of the application for restoration of the patent in the Journal under subsection (4), a person—
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(i) began in good faith to do an act which would constitute an infringement of the patent if it had not lapsed, or
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(ii) made in good faith effective and serious preparations to do such an act,
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the person shall have the right to continue to do the act concerned or, as the case may be, to do that act, notwithstanding the restoration of the patent.
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(9) Paragraph (c) of subsection (8) does not extend to granting a licence to any person to do an act referred to in that paragraph.
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(10) If the act referred to in paragraph (c) of subsection (8) was done, or the preparations were made to do it, in the course of a business, the person entitled to the right conferred by the said paragraph (c) may—
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(a) authorise that act to be done by any partner of that person for the time being in that business, and
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(b) assign the right, or transmit that right on death (or in the case of a body corporate on its dissolution), to any person who acquires that part of the business in the course of which the act was done or preparations had been made to do it.
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(11) Where a product is disposed of by any person to another person in exercise of a right conferred by paragraph (c) of subsection (8) or by subsection (10), that other person and any person claiming through that other person shall be entitled to deal with the product in the same way as if it had been disposed of by the registered proprietor of the patent.”.
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