| (1) |
An application for a patent shall be made in the prescribed manner and on payment of the prescribed fee and shall be accompanied by a provisional specification or by a complete specification. |
| (2) |
Every such application shall contain an address for service in the Republic to which all notices and communications may be sent, and every applicant for a patent shall, before the acceptance of his application, lodge with the registrar a declaration in the prescribed form. |
| (3) |
An address for service furnished in terms of section 9(2) of the repealed law, shall be deemed to have been furnished in terms of subsection (2) of this section. |
| (4) |
Any person other than the inventor making or joining in an application for a patent shall in the prescribed manner furnish such proof of his title or authority to apply for a patent as may be prescribed. |
| (5) |
An application shall, save as is otherwise provided in this Act, date from the day when it is lodged at the patent office. |
(6)
| (a) |
An application shall not be denied a lodging date on formal grounds only in that it does not comply with the requirements of subsection (1), provided it is accompanied by— |
| (ii) |
the prescribed application form signed either by the applicant or his agent; |
| (iv) |
one copy of the drawings, if any, notwithstanding that they are not in the prescribed form. |
| (b) |
The provisions of paragraph (a)(iii) and (iv) shall be deemed to have been complied with, in the case of a convention application, by the inclusion in the prescribed form of the number, date and title of the relevant application in the convention country from which such convention application claims priority and the name of the convention country, if the specification and drawings, if any, are lodged within 14 days of the date on which the application was lodged. |
[Paragraph (b) substituted by section 33 of Act No. 38 of 1997.]
| (c) |
Any specifications not in an official language of the Republic shall be replaced within three months of the date of lodging by a translation in one of such official languages, certified to the satisfaction of the registrar. |
| (7) |
An application may be amended within two months from the date on which it has been lodged, in order to claim priority. |
Statistics Act, 1999
