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PATENTS ACT

Arrangement of Sections

   Section

PART I
PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS

   1.   Short title

   2.   Interpretation

   3.   Act to bind Republic

PART II
ADMINISTRATION

   4.   Administration of Act

   5.   Seal of Agency

   6.   Registrar

   7.   Functions of Agency

   8.   Appointment of other staff

   9.   Non-warranty and non-liability

   10.   Register of Patents

   11.   Rectification of Register

   12.   Inspection of Register and evidentiary proof

   13.   Regulations on registration processes and procedures

   14.   Industrial Property Journal

PART III
PATENTABILITY OF INVENTIONS

   15.   Conditions for patenting of invention and protection

   16.   Non-patentable subject matter

   17.   Exclusions from patentability

   18.   Novelty

   19.   Inventive step

   20.   Industrial application

   21.   Patentability of micro-biological process or product

   22.   Temporary exclusion from patent protection

PART IV
PROCESS FOR OBTAINING A PATENT

   23.   Persons entitled to apply for grant of patent

   24.   Application by joint inventors

   25.   Naming of inventor

   26.   Filing of patent application

   27.   Contents of patent application

   28.   Disclosure of invention involving genetic resources or traditional knowledge

   29.   Filing of application by non-resident

   30.   Contents of request

   31.   Specification

   32.   Disclosure and description of invention

   33.   Claim

   34.   Drawings

   35.   Abstract

   36.   Unity of invention

   37.   Filing date

   38.   First to file rule

   39.   Fresh application to be ante-dated

   40.   Post-dating or ante-dating of application

   41.   Priority date

   42.   Right of priority

   43.   Restrictions on patent applications outside Zambia

   44.   Information concerning corresponding foreign application

   45.   Refusal of application in certain cases

   46.   Amendment of patent application

   47.   Correction of errors in documents

   48.   Division of application

   49.   Withdrawal of application

   50.   Lapse of application

PART V
EXAMINATION, PUBLICATION AND OPPOSITION

   51.   Examination for compliance with requirements

   52.   Prior art search

   53.   Examination for compliance to substance

   54.   Publication of acceptance

   55.   Inspection of application

   56.   Opposition to grant of patent

   57.   Opposition procedure for grant of patent

PART VI
INVENTIONS BY EMPLOYEES

   58.   Invention by employee

   59.   Invention by Government employee

   60.   Disputes of invention by employee

PART VII
INTERNATIONAL APPLICATIONS FOR A GRANT OF PATENT

   61.   Patent Cooperation Treaty

   62.   Procedure relating to international application

   63.   ARIPO patent

PART VIII
GRANT, TERM AND RENEWAL OF PATENTS

   64.   Grant and seal of patent

   65.   Date and duration of patent

   66.   Publication of grant

   67.   Extension of term of patent

   68.   Maintenance fee

   69.   Lapse of protection of patent on non-payment of maintenance fee

   70.   Restoration of patent

   71.   Rights of patentee of restored patent

PART IX
PATENT RIGHTS AND LIMITATIONS

   72.   Exclusive rights of patentee

   73.   Nature of patent right

   74.   Joint ownership of patent

   75.   Limitations of patent rights

   76.   Exhaustion of rights

PART X
INFRINGEMENT

   77.   Infringement

   78.   Non-infringement acts

   79.   Right to commence proceedings for infringement

   80.   Remedies for infringement

   81.   Order for delivery up

   82.   Order for forfeiture, destruction and disposal

   83.   Restrictions on recovery of damages for innocent infringement

   84.   Declaration of non-infringement

   85.   Infringement proceedings where concurrent rights exist

   86.   Presumption of validity and ownership

   87.   Presumption of use of patented process

   88.   Affidavit evidence

   89.   Groundless threat of infringement proceedings

PART XI
SURRENDER AND REVOCATION

   90.   Surrender of patent

   91.   Revocation of patent

   92.   Revocation of patent in public interest

   93.   Date and effect of revocation

PART XII
PUBLICATION OR COMMUNICATION OF INVENTION RELATED TO DEFENCE AND SECURITY

   94.   Prohibiting publication or communication of information prejudicial to defence

   95.   Effects of directions on application

PART XIII
CONTRACTUAL AND COMPULSORY LICENCES

   96.   Licence contract

   97.   Refusal by Registrar to register licence contract

   98.   Exclusive licence

   99.   Compulsory licence

   100.   Grant of compulsory licence for interdependent inventions

   101.   Compulsory licence granted under regulation

   102.   Revocation of compulsory licence

   103.   Registration of compulsory licence

   104.   Licence of right

PART XIV
EXPLOITATION OF PATENTED INVENTION BY GOVERNMENT

   105.   Use of invention by Government

   106.   Notification of patentee by Government

   107.   Extent, duration and limitation of use of patented invention

   108.   Compensation of patentee for use of patented invention

PART XV
UTILITY MODELS

   109.   Applicability of provisions relating to patents

   110.   Utility model certificate

   111.   Date and term of utility model

   112.   Conversion of application

   113.   ARIPO utility model

PART XVI
PATENT AGENTS

   114.   Register of patent agents

   115.   Registration as patent agent

   116.   Functions of patent agent

   117.   Removal of patent agent from register

   118.   Restoration of patent agent

   119.   Refusal by Registrar to deal with certain agents

PART XVII
OFFENCES

   120.   Manufacture and possession of die for use in commission of offence

   121.   Holding out as patent agent

   122.   Offences by body corporate or unincorporated body

   123.   General offences

   124.   General penalty

PART XVIII
GENERAL PROVISIONS

   125.   Exercise of discretionary power

   126.   Registrar to sit with assessors in determining matter

   127.   Evidence of certain entries and documents

   128.   Requests for information

   129.   Waiver of prescribed fee

   130.   Extension of time

   131.   Registrar to act as soon as practicable

   132.   Registrar’s statement to High Court

   133.   Authorisation to publish advertisement of notice

   134.   Replacement of certificate

   135.   Lodging and authentication of documents

   136.   Expenses relating to administration

   137.   Administrative penalties

   138.   Prescribed fee

   139.   Regulations

   140.   Repeal of Cap. 400

   141.   Transitional provisions

 

      SCHEDULE

AN ACT

to provide for the protection and administration of patents; to provide for the patentability of inventions; to provide for the process for obtaining letters patent for an invention; to provide for the restriction, publication and communication of patents; promote the use of patented information and technological knowledge; to provide for contractual and compulsory licences; to provide for the use and acquisition of inventions by the Government; to promote and encourage innovative and inventive activities and local generation of technologies; to provide for the protection of utility models and the grant of a utility model certificate; to give effect to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property 1883, the Patent Cooperation Treaty 1970, the Harare Protocol on Patents and Industrial Designs adopted on December 10, 1982, and the World Trade Organisation Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, 1994, and any other relevant international treaty or convention to which Zambia is a State Party; to repeal and replace the Patents Act, 1958; and to provide for matters connected with, or incidental to, the foregoing.

[2nd June, 2017]

Act 40 of 2016,

SI 36 of 2017.

PART I
PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS

1. Short title

This Act may be cited as the Patents Act.

2. Interpretation

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

“Agency” means the Patents and Companies Registration Agency established under the Patents and Companies Registration Act, 2010;

“anticipation” means the prior invention or disclosure of a claimed invention by another person or the inventor’s own disclosure of the claimed invention by publication, sale or offer to sell if that prior invention or disclosure predates the date of the patent application filing;

“applicant” means a person who applies for a grant of a patent or utility model certificate, and includes a person making, any other formal application in accordance with this Act;

“ARIPO” means the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation, established by an agreement adopted at Lusaka on 9 December, 1976;

“article” includes any substance, material, equipment, machinery or apparatus, whether affixed to land or not;

“assessor” means an expert in Intellectual Property or a relevant field appointed by the Registrar;

“assignee” means a person who derives title to an invention from a patentee;

“authorised person” includes a contractor, subcontractor, firm or corporation that is authorised, in writing, to undertake an activity for non-commercial purposes for or on behalf of the Government;

“Board” means the Board of the Agency constituted in accordance with the Patents and Companies Registration Agency Act, 2010;

“Budapest Treaty” means the Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Micro-organisms for the purposes of Patent Procedure established at Budapest on 28 April, 1977, as amended and modified from time to time;

“child” has the meaning assigned to it in the Constitution;

“commercially exploit” means to use or develop something for business purposes, and includes selling;

“compulsory licence” means a licence granted by the Minister, in accordance with, and for the purposes stated in, section 99;

“convention application” means an application for the grant of a patent from a convention country;

“convention country” means a country or an intergovernmental body which is Party to the Paris Convention;

“Convention on Bio-Diversity” means the Convention recognising biological diversity, signed in Rio de Janeiro, in 1992, at the Earth Summit;

“date of lodging” means the date on which a document is lodged or where it is deemed by virtue of any provision in this Act to have been lodged;

“depository institute” means a scientific institution established in accordance with the Budapest Treaty;

“designated office” means the national office of, or acting for the state designated by the applicant in accordance with the Patent Cooperation Treaty;

“DNA” means deoxyribonucleic acid that carries the genetic information in cells and some viruses;

“elected office” means the national office of, or acting for, the state elected by the applicant in accordance with the Patent Cooperation Treaty;

“examiner” means an officer appointed in accordance with section 8;

“exclusive licence” means a licence, in writing, signed by or on behalf of a patentee authorising the licensee, to the exclusion of all other persons, to exercise a right that would otherwise be exercisable exclusively by the patentee, and "exclusive licensee" shall be construed accordingly, with the necessary modifications;

“exploit” means making, importing, offering for sale, selling or using a product or process, and includes stocking up a product for the purpose of offering for sale, selling or using;

“filing date” means the date of receipt of an application for the grant of a patent which complies with the requirements stipulated in section 27;

“foreign application” means an application for the grant of a patent or any other protection filed with any other country other than Zambia by an applicant for the grant of a patent in accordance with this Act;

“genetic resource” means any genetic material of a biological resource containing genetic information having actual or potential value for humanity and includes derivatives, fauna and flora of terrestrial, aquatic and any other origin which may be used by the inventor to obtain specific practical outputs in any field of human activity or derivative;

“Harare Protocol” means the Protocol for the Protection of Patents, Utility Models and Industrial Designs administered by ARIPO;

“industrial application” means an application capable of being made or used in an industry;

“international application” means an application for a grant of a patent, filed in accordance with section 62, which designates Zambia for the national grant of a patent in accordance with the Patent Cooperation Treaty and Regulations, including any other international treaty to which Zambia is a State Party;

“International Bureau” means the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organisation;

“international preliminary examination” means a preliminary and non-binding examination carried out by the International Examination Authority, appointed in accordance with the Patent Cooperation Treaty;

“International Searching Authority” means a patent office appointed by the International Bureau in accordance with Articles 16(3) and 32(3) of the Patent Cooperation Treaty;

“invention” means a solution to a specific problem in a particular field of technology and includes a product or a process;

“inventive step” means a feature of an invention that involves a technical advancement to existing knowledge which makes the invention not obvious to a person skilled in the art;

“inventor” means a person who actually devised the invention, and includes the legal representative of an inventor, but does not include a person to whom an invention has been communicated to from within or outside Zambia;

“legal representative” means a—

   (a)   liquidator or receiver of a company;

   (b)   person appointed under a power of attorney;

   (c)   person, recognised by law, representing a person who has died, becomes bankrupt or assigns that person’s estate; or

   (d)   person, recognised by law, representing a child, person of unsound mind or person with a legal disability;

“letters patent” means an instrument that grants the exclusive rights of an invention to an individual or a corporation;

“licensee” means a person who has been permitted by a patentee to exploit the patented article, in accordance with the terms and conditions specified in a licence contract;

“National Institute for Scientific and Industrial Research” means the National Institute for Scientific and Industrial Research established by the establishment of National Institute for Scientific and Industrial Research Regulations, 1998;

“national phase” means the period before the expiry of 31 months from the priority date when the applicant submits an application for the grant of a patent as provided for in section 64;

“non-commercial purposes” means any activity carried out for non-profit purposes;

“novelty” means the newness of an invention both in form and function or performance;

“officer” means an employee of the Agency;

“Paris Convention” means the Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property signed at Paris on March 20, 1883;

“patent” means the letters patent granted for an invention which meets the requirements specified in section 15;

“patentable"  means meeting the requirements specified in of section 15(1) and being eligible for protection as a patent as provided in that section, and the word “patentability” shall be construed accordingly;

“patent agent” means a person who is registered as a patent agent in accordance with section 115;

“Patent Cooperation Treaty” means the treaty signed at Washington on June 19, 1970;

“patented article” means an article in respect of which a patent has been granted, in accordance with section 15, and which is in force;

“patentee” means a person who is entered in the Register as the holder of a patent, and includes a successor in title;

“practitioner” has the meaning assigned to it in the Legal Practitioners Act;

“prior art” means knowledge which is publicly known and used by others or is available, on the date of the invention, to a person of ordinary skill in the art, and includes what would be obvious from that knowledge;

“priority date” means the cut-off date stipulated in section 41;

“process” includes a method, art, application or procedure for producing, manufacturing, maintaining or improving the quality of a product;

“protected patent” means a patent protected, as specified in section 15;

“Receiving Office” means a national office or an intergovernmental organisation with which an international application for a grant of a patent has been filed;

“Register” means the Register of Patents established and maintained in accordance with section 10;

“Registrar” means the person appointed as Registrar under the Patents and Companies Registration Agency Act, 2010;

“repealed Act” means the Patents Act, 1958;

“specification” means a provisional or complete description of an invention or claim of an invention, as provided in section 31, and includes drawings;

“state of the art” means—

   (a)   all matter, whether a product, process or information about anything, which has been made available or disclosed to the public in Zambia in tangible form or by written or oral disclosure or description, by use or in any other way, prior to the lodging or priority date of the application for the grant of a patent;

   (b)   matter contained in an application for another patent which was published or became open to public inspection on or after the priority date of that invention if—

      (i)   that matter was contained in that application for that other patent as lodged, published or opened to public inspection; and

      (ii)   the priority date of that matter is earlier than that of the invention; or

   (c)   an invention used secretly but on a commercial scale within Zambia;

“traditional knowledge” means any knowledge, not limited to a specific subject area, technical or medical field associated with genetic resources, originating from a traditional community, individual or group that is the result of intellectual activity and insight in a traditional context and where the knowledge is embodied in the traditional lifestyle of a traditional community or is codified in knowledge systems and passed on from one generation to another;

“utility model” means an intellectual property right with less stringent patentability requirements to protect an invention;

“utility model certificate” means a certificate granted for a utility model in accordance with section 110; and

“WIPO” means the World Intellectual Property Organisation established on July 14, 1967.

3. Act to bind Republic

This Act shall bind the Republic.

PART II
ADMINISTRATION

4. Administration of Act

This Act shall be administered by the Agency.

5. Seal of Agency

The seal of the Agency kept in terms of the Patents and Companies Registration Agency Act, 2010, shall be used for the purposes of this Act and the impression made for such purposes shall be judicially noticed.

6. Registrar

   (1) The Registrar appointed in accordance with the Patents and Companies Registration Agency Act, 2010, shall, in addition to the Registrar’s other functions and powers specified in that Act and any other law, exercise the powers and perform the functions conferred on the Registrar in this Act.

   (2) The Board may delegate the functions and powers of the Agency, specified in this Act, to the Registrar when the Board considers it necessary for the better implementation of this Act.

7. Functions of Agency

The functions of the Agency are to—

   (a)   receive and process applications for the grant of patents made by a person referred to in section 23 and the granting of letters patent;

   (b)   act as a designated or an elected patent office for international applications;

   (c)   receive and process applications for the registration of utility models and the granting of utility model certificates, in accordance with this Act;

   (d)   act as an elected office for the purposes of an international preliminary examination, in accordance with the Patent Cooperation Treaty; and

   (e)   perform any other functions as are necessary or incidental to the carrying out of its functions under this Act.

8. Appointment of other staff

The Board shall appoint assistant registrars, such number of examiners and other officers as may be necessary for carrying out the provisions of this Act and who shall, subject to the control of the Registrar, have all the powers conferred by this Act on the Registrar.

9. Non-warranty and non-liability

An examination, investigation or any act undertaken, in accordance with this Act, shall not warrant the validity of such examination, investigation or act and no liability shall be incurred by any member of the Board, Registrar, examiner or any other officer by reason of, or in connection with, any examination, investigation, act or other consequent proceeding.

10. Register of Patents

   (1) The Agency shall establish and maintain a Register of Patents in which shall be entered—

   (a)   particulars of patents and patentees;

   (b)   particulars of utility models and owners of the utility model;

   (c)   notices of matters which are required, in accordance with this Act, to be entered in the Register; and

   (d)   such other matters affecting the validity or ownership of patents and utility models, as may be prescribed.

   (2) The Register may be established in non-electronic or electronic form or partly in electronic form.

   (3) Where the Register is kept wholly or partly in electronic form, reference in this Act to—

   (a)   an entry in the Register shall include reference to a record of particulars kept in electronic form;

   (b)   particulars being entered in the Register shall include references to the keeping of records in electronic form; and

   (c)   the rectification of the Register shall include references to the rectification of the record of particulars kept in electronic form.

11. Rectification of Register

   (1) The Registrar may, on application by an applicant for the grant of a patent or a patentee, made in a prescribed manner and form or by an order of the court, cause the Register be rectified by the making of a correction to an entry in the register.

   (2) Where the Registrar requires that a correction be made without any application or order of the court, the Registrar shall give notice of the need to do so, to the applicant or patentee.

   (3) An application for the correction of any document entered in the Register, after an application for the grant of a patent has been published or the patent granted, shall be advertised by the applicant within a prescribed period.

   (4) When an application to make a correction is advertised, in accordance with sub-section (2), any interested person may object to the making of the correction, in a prescribed manner and within a prescribed period.

   (5) Where an objection is made in accordance with sub-section (4), the Registrar shall notify the applicant of the objection and give the applicant and the person objecting, an opportunity to be heard before determining the matter.

   (6) A person aggrieved by the decision of the Registrar may, within a prescribed period after receipt of the decision of the Registrar, appeal to the High Court.

12. Inspection of Register and evidentiary proof

   (1) Subject to this Act, the Register shall, on payment of the prescribed fee, be open for inspection by the public during prescribed hours.

   (2) The Register shall be prima facie evidence of any matters required or authorised by or under this Act to be entered in the Register.

   (3) A copy of any entry in the Register or an extract from the Register, certified by the Registrar, shall be admitted in evidence without further proof and without production of the original copy.

13. Regulations on registration processes and procedures

   (1) The Minister may, by statutory instrument, make regulations for, or with respect to, any matter under this Part that is to be prescribed or necessary for carrying out or giving effect to the registration processes and procedures.

   (2) Without limiting the generality of sub-section (1), regulations made in accordance with that sub-section may be provide for—

   (a)   the format of applications for the grant of a patent and registration of a utility model;

   (b)   the payment of fees in respect of any matter or anything done or provided for under this Part;

   (c)   the procedure to be followed in connection with any application or request to the Registrar or any proceeding before the Registrar;

   (d)   the provision of copies of any documents registered in the Register and the certification of such copies;

   (e)   the making of searches on the Register, including the times when, and the manner in which, the searches may be made;

   (f)   the service of notices and other documents with respect to the Register; or

   (g)   any matter required to be provided for in relation to the Register.

14. Industrial Property Journal

   (1) The Registrar shall arrange for the periodic publication of an Industrial Property Journal on patents and utility models that are protected in accordance with this Act and any matter which the Registrar may consider desirable relating to such matters.

   (2) The Registrar may sell copies of the Industrial Property Journal at such price and in such manner as the Board may approve.

PART III
PATENTABILITY OF INVENTIONS

15. Conditions for patenting of invention and protection

   (1) Subject to section 17, a patent may be granted for an invention which satisfies the following conditions—

   (a)   it is new;

   (b)   it involves an inventive step; and

   (c)   it is capable of industrial application.

   (2) A patent granted, which satisfies the conditions specified in sub-section (1) and this Act shall be protected for the period specified in section 65.

16. Non-patentable subject matter

The following inventions shall not be patentable—

   (a)   discoveries, scientific theories or mathematical methods;

   (b)   schemes, rules or methods for doing business, performing purely mental acts or playing games or doing business;

   (c)   literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work or any other artistic creation;

   (d)   presentation of information; and

   (e)   computer programmes.

17. Exclusions from patentability

Despite section 15, a patent shall not be granted for any of the following inventions and the invention shall be excluded from being protected as specified in section 15(2)—

   (a)   methods of treatment of the human or animal body by surgery or therapy, as well as diagnostic methods, except in relation to products for use in any of these methods;

   (b)   plant or animal varieties or essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals other than non-biological and microbiological processes and the products of such processes;

   (c)   DNA, including complementary DNA sequences, cells, cell lines and cell cultures and seeds;

   (d)   the whole or part of natural living beings and biological materials found in nature, even if isolated or purified, including the genome or germplasm of any natural living being;

   (e)   new uses of a known product, including the second use of a medicine;

   (f)   juxtaposition of known inventions or mixtures of known products or alteration of the use, form, dimensions or materials, except where in reality they are so combined or merged that they cannot function separately or where their characteristic qualities or functions have been so modified as to produce an industrial result or use not obvious to a person skilled in the art;

   (g)   inventions which contravene or are inconsistent with public order, public morality, principles of humanity and environmental conservation;

   (h)   public health related methods of use or uses of any molecule or other substance, whatsoever used, for the prevention or treatment of any disease which the Minister responsible for health may designate as a serious health hazard or as a life threatening disease;

   (i)   an invention which is frivolous or claims anything obvious or contrary to well established natural laws; or

   (j)   an invention which is traditional knowledge or is an aggregation or duplication of traditional knowledge.

18. Novelty

   (1) An invention shall be considered new if it does not form part of the state of the art immediately before the priority date.

   (2) The novelty of an invention shall not be destroyed if disclosure—

   (a)   of the invention occurred within 12 months preceding the date of filing of the application for the grant of a patent;

   (b)   was due to, or made in consequence of, the matter having been obtained unlawfully or in breach of confidence by any person—

      (i)   from the inventor or any other person to whom the matter was made available in confidence by the inventor or who obtained it from the inventor because the person or the inventor believed that the person was entitled to obtain it; or

      (ii)   from any other person to whom the matter was made available in confidence by any person mentioned in sub-paragraph (i) or in this sub-paragraph or who obtained it from any person so mentioned because that person or the person from whom that person obtained it believed that such person was entitled to obtain it;

   (c)   was made due to, or in consequence of, the inventor displaying the invention at an international exhibition, recognised by the Agency, and the applicant states, on lodging an application for the grant of a patent, that the inventor has notified, in the prescribed manner, that the invention has been so displayed and, within the prescribed period and in accordance with any prescribed conditions, files written evidence in support of the statement; or

   (d)   was to the public for the purpose of providing the result of a research undertaken by any university, research institution or development institution, within six months preceding the date of lodging an application for the grant of a patent.

19. Inventive step

An invention shall be considered to involve an inventive step if it is not obvious to a person ordinarily skilled in the art, on the date of filing of the application for the grant of patent or, where priority is claimed, on the priority date validly claimed.

20. Industrial application

An invention shall be considered to be capable of industrial application if it can be made or used in an industry.

21. Patentability of micro-biological process or product

   (1) An invention relating to a micro-biological process or product, which involves the use of a micro-organism which is not available to the public and which cannot be described in the application for a grant of a patent in such a manner as to enable the invention to be carried out by a person skilled in the art, shall not be patented unless—

   (a)   a culture of the micro-organism has been deposited with the depository institution, in accordance with the Budapest Treaty by the date of filing of the application for the grant of a patent;

   (b)   the applicant has furnished the Agency, in a prescribed manner, with information on the characteristic of the micro-organism; and

   (c)   the applicant has furnished the Agency with the name of the depository institution and the file number of the culture deposited.

   (2) The information referred to in sub-section (1) shall be submitted by the applicant to the Agency within a prescribed period after the date of filing of the application for the grant of a patent or, if priority is claimed, after the priority date.

   (3) The culture of a micro-organism and any information deposited with the depository institution shall be open to inspection on request by a person having the right to inspect the culture and information.

   (4) Where a micro-organism, deposited in accordance with sub-section (1), is not, for any reason, available at the depository institution where it was deposited, a fresh deposit of the same micro-organism shall be made, by the depositor, accompanied with a signed declaration stating that a fresh deposit of the micro-organism has been made and is of the same kind as the one contained in the original deposit.

   (5) An interruption in the availability of a micro-organism shall not be considered to have occurred if a fresh deposit, referred to in sub-section (4), is made within a period not exceeding three months from the date the depositor is notified of the interruption by the depository institution.

22. Temporary exclusion from patent protection

   (1) The Minister may, in consultation with the Agency, by statutory instrument, exclude some inventions, which the Agency considers harmful or offensive to the public, from protection, as a patent, for a period not exceeding two years.

   (2) The exclusion from protection, referred to in sub-section (1), shall not have effect with respect to any pending application for the grant of a patent or with respect to a patent in force at the date of the coming into force of the statutory instrument issued by the Minister in terms of sub-section (1).

PART IV
PROCESS FOR OBTAINING A PATENT

23. Persons entitled to apply for grant of patent

An application for grant of a patent, may be filed by—

   (a)   a person claiming to be an inventor;

   (b)   an assignee of the person claiming to be an inventor;

   (c)   a legal representative of an inventor or assignee;

   (d)   two or more persons who claim to be the inventors, as specified in section 24; or

   (e)   a successor in title to an inventor or assignee.

24. Application by joint inventors

   (1) An application for a grant of a patent may be made by two or more persons who have jointly made an invention.

   (2) An application referred to in sub-section (1) shall be made notwithstanding that—

   (a)   the inventors did not physically work together when coming up with the invention; or

   (b)   the inventors did not make equal contribution to the creation of the invention.


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