Copies of provisional specifications to be open to inspection at the commissioners' office. Copy of every at commis Copies or extracts of letters patent, &c., certified and sealed, filed at commissioners' office, to be received in evidence. Cert ed printed copies of specifications, &c., under seal of to be made by the commissioners, and the commissioners may cause all or any of such indexes, specifications, disclaimers, and memoranda of alterations to be printed, published, and sold in such manner and at such prices as the commissioners may think fit (a). Copies of Specifications open to Inspection. The commissioners shall cause true copies of all provisional specifications left at the office of the commissioners to be open to the inspection of the public, at such times, after the date of the record thereof respectively, as the commissioners shall by their order from time to time direct (b). A true copy, under the hand of the patentee or applicant, or agent of the patentee or applicant, of every specification and of every complete specification, with the drawings accompanying the same, if any, shall be left at the office of the commissioners on filing such specification or complete specification (c). Printed or manuscript copies or extracts, certified and sealed with the seal of the commissioners, of letters patent, specifications, disclaimers, memoranda of alterations, and all other documents recorded and filed in the commissioners' office, or in the office of the Court of Chancery appointed for the filing of specifications, shall be received in evidence in all proceedings relating to letters patent for inventions in all courts whatsoever within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, and Her Majesty's colonies and plantations abroad, without further proof or production of the originals (d). Certified printed copies, under the seal of the commissioners, of all specifications and complete specifications, and fac-simile printed copies of the drawings accompanying the same, if any, disclaimers, and memoranda of alterations, filed or hereafter to be filed under the said Patent Law Amendment Act, shall be transmitted to the office of the Director of Chancery in Scotland, and to the Enrolment Office of the Court of Chancery in Ireland, within twenty-one days after the filing thereof respecIreland, which tively, and the same shall be filed in the Office of Chancery in dence, without Scotland and Ireland respectively, and certified copies or commissioners, to be transmitted to the director of Chancery in Scotland, and to the Court of Chancery in shall be evi extracts from such documents shall be furnished to all persons production of originals. requiring the same, on payment of such fees as the commissioners shall direct; and such copies or extracts shall be received in evidence in all courts in Scotland and in Ireland respectively, in all proceedings relating to letters patent for inventions, without further proof or production of the originals (a). Registry of Patents. There shall be kept at the office appointed for filing specifi- Register of patents to be cations in Chancery under this Act, a book or books, to be kept. called "The Register of Patents," wherein shall be entered and recorded, in chronological order, all letters patent granted under this Act, the deposit or filing of specifications, disclaimers, and memoranda of alterations filed in respect of such letters patent, all amendments in such letters patent and specifications, all confirmations and extensions of such letters patent, the expiry, vacating, or cancelling such letters patent, with the dates thereof respectively, and all other matters and things affecting the validity of such letters patent as the commissioners may direct, and such register, or a copy thereof, shall be open at all convenient times to the inspection of the public, subject to such regulations as the commissioners may make (b). There shall be kept at the office appointed for filing specifications in Chancery under this Act, a book or books, entitled "The Register of Proprietors," wherein shall be entered, in such manner as the commissioners shall direct, the assignment of any letters patent, or of any share or interest therein, any licence under letters patent, and the district to which such licence relates, with the name or names of any person having any share or interest in such letters patent or licence, the date of his or their acquiring such letters patent, share, and interest, and any other matter or thing relating to or affecting the proprietorship in such letters patent or licence; and a copy of any entry in such books, certified under such seal as may have been appointed or as may be directed by the Lord Chancellor to be used in the said office, shall be given to any person requiring the same, on payment of the fees hereinafter provided; and such copies so certified shall be received in evidence in all courts and in all proceedings, and shall be prima facie proof of (a) 16 & 17 Vict. c. 115, s. 5. (b) 15 & 16 Vict. c. 83, s. 34. A register of proprietors to be kept at the office for filing specifications. Power for more than twelve persons to have a legal interest in let ters patent. Falsification the assignment of such letters patent, or share or interest therein, or of the licence or proprietorship as therein expressed: Provided always, that until such entry shall have been made, the grantee or grantees of the letters patent shall be deemed and taken to be the sole and exclusive proprietor or proprietors of such letters patent, and of all the licences and privileges thereby given and granted; that certified duplicates of all entries made in the said register of proprietors shall forthwith be transmitted to the office of the commissioners in Edinburgh and Dublin, where the same shall also be open to the inspection of the public; and any writ of scire facias to repeal such letters patent may be issued to the sheriff of the county or counties in which the grantee or grantees resided at the time when the said letters patent were granted; and in case such grantee or grantees do not reside in the United Kingdom, it shall be sufficient to file such writ in the Petty Bag Office, and serve notice thereof in writing at the last known residence or place of business of such grantee or grantees; and such register or a copy shall be open to the inspection of the public at the office of the commissioners, subject to such regulations as the commissioners may make: Provided always, that in any proceeding in Scotland to repeal any letters patent, service of all writs and summonses shall be made according to the existing forms and practice; provided also, that the grantee or grantees of letters patent to be hereafter granted, may assign the letters patent for England, Scotland, or Ireland respectively, as effectually as if the letters patent had been originally granted to extend to England or Scotland or Ireland only, and the assignee or assignees shall have the same rights of action and remedies, and shall be subject to the like actions and suits, as he or they should and would have had and been subject to upon the assignment of letters patent granted to England, Ireland, or Scotland, before the passing of this Act (a). Notwithstanding any proviso that may exist in former letters patent, it shall be lawful for a larger number than twelve persons hereafter to have a legal and beneficial interest in such letters patent (b). If any person shall wilfully make or cause to be made any (a) 15 & 16 Vict. c. 83, s. 35. (b) Ibid. s. 36. of entries a false entry in the said register of proprietors, or shall wilfully or forgery make or forge, or cause to be made or forged, any writing misdemeanor. falsely purporting to be a copy of any entry in the said book, or shall produce or tender, or cause to be produced or tendered, in evidence, any such writing knowing the same to be false or forged, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by fine and imprisonment accordingly (a). If any person shall deem himself aggrieved by any entry made under colour of this Act in the said register of proprietors, it shall be lawful for such person to apply, by motion, to the Master of the Rolls or to any of the courts of common law at Westminster, in term time, or by summons to a judge of any of the said courts in vacation, for an order that such entry may be expunged, vacated, or varied; and upon any such application the Master of the Rolls, or such court or judge respectively, may make such order for expunging, vacating, or varying such entry, and as to the costs of such application, as to the said Master of the Rolls or to such court or judge may seem fit; and the officer having the care and custody of such register, on the production to him of any such order for expunging, vacating, or varying any such entry, shall expunge, vacate, or vary the same, according to the requisitions of such order (b). Disclaimers and Memoranda of Alterations. Entries may be expunged. Provisions of 5 & 6 Will. 4, c. 83, and of c. 69, as to 7 & 8 Vict. disclaimers and memo A patentee may at any time withdraw some of the points which might afford ground of objection to the whole patent, which is called disclaimer or memorandum of alteration, and, if allowed, the same is taken to be part of the original specification. All applications for leave to enter a disclaimer or memorandum of alteration shall be made, and all caveats relating to apply to thereto shall be lodged, at the office of the commissioners, and this Act. shall be referred to the respective law officers. Every such Applications disclaimer or memorandum of alteration shall be filed in the office appointed for filing specifications in Chancery under this Act, with the specification to which the same relates, in lieu of being entered or filed and enrolled as required by the said firstrecited Act, or by the Act of the session holden in the twelfth and thirteenth years of Her Majesty, chapter one hundred and (b) Ibid. s. 38. (a) 15 & 16 Vict. c. 83, s. 37. randa of alterations patents under for disclaimers of commis sioners. Provisions of 5 & 6 W. 4, c. 67; and 7 & 8 Vict. c. 69; as to confirmation and prolongation, to apply to patents under this Act. nine, and the said Acts shall be construed accordingly. And such filing of any disclaimer or memorandum of alteration, in pursuance of the leave of the law officer in the first-recited Act mentioned, certified as therein mentioned, shall, except in cases of fraud, be conclusive as to the right of the party to enter such disclaimer or memorandum of alteration under the said Acts and this Act; and no objection shall be allowed to be made in any proceeding upon or touching such letters patent, specification, disclaimer, or memorandum of alteration, on the ground that the party entering such disclaimer or memorandum of alteration had not sufficient authority in that behalf. No action shall be brought upon any letters patent in which, or on the specification of which, any disclaimer or memorandum of alteration shall have been filed in respect of any infringement committed prior to the filing of such disclaimer or memorandum of alteration, unless the law officer shall certify in his fiat that any such action may be brought, notwithstanding the entry or filing of such disclaimer or memorandum of alteration (a). Prolongation of the Patent. All the provisions of the said Act of the fifth and sixth years of King William the Fourth, for the confirmation of any letters. patent, and the grant of new letters patent, and all the provisions of the said Act, and of the Acts of the session holden in the second and third years of Her Majesty, chapter sixty-seven, and of the session holden in the seventh and eighth years of Her Majesty chapter sixty-nine, respectively, relating to the prolongation of the term of letters patent, and to the grant of new letters patent for a further term, shall extend and apply to any letters patent granted under the provisions of this Act, and it shall be lawful for Her Majesty to grant any new letters patent, as in the said Acts mentioned; and in the granting of any such new letters patent Her Majesty's Order in Council shall be a sufficient warrant and authority for the sealing of any new letters patent, and for the insertion in such new letters patent of any restrictions, conditions, and provisions in the said order mentioned; and the Lord Chancellor, on the receipt of the said Order in Council, shall cause letters patent, according (a) 15 & 16 Vict. c. 83, s. 39; see 5 & 6 W. 4, c. 83; 7 & 8 Vict. c. 69. |