Section 1.
Section ten of Republic Act Numbered One hundred and sixty-five is
hereby amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 10. Right to patent. — The right to the
patent belongs to the first true and actual inventor, his heirs, legal
representatives, or assigns. If two or more persons have an invention
jointly, the right to the patent belongs to them jointly. If two or
more persons have made the invention separately and independently of
each other, the right to the patent shall belong to the person who is
the first to file an application for such invention, unless it is shown
that the second to file an application was the original and first
inventor.
"Whenever an application is made for a patent which, in the opinion of
the Director, would interfere with any pending application, or with any
unexpired patent, he shall give notice thereof to the applications, or
applicant and patentee, as the case may be, and shall proceed to
determine the question of priority of invention. And upon termination
of the interference proceedings, the Director may issue a patent to the
party who is adjudged the prior inventor."
Sec. 2. Section fifteen of Republic Act Numbered
One hundred and sixty-five is hereby amended so as to read as
follows:
"Section 15. Applications previously filed abroad. —
An application for patent for an invention filed in this country by any
person who has previously regularly filed an application for a patent
for the same invention in a foreign country which, by treaty,
convention, or law, affords similar privileges to citizens of the
Philippines, shall have the same force and effect as the same
application would have if filed in this country on the date on which
the application for patent for the same invention was first filed in
such foreign country: Provided, That the application in this country is
filed within twelve months from the earliest date on which any such
foreign application was filed, and a certified copy of the foreign
application together with a translation thereof into English, if not in
the English language, is filed within six months from the date of
filing in the Philippines, unless the Director for good cause shown
shall extend the time for filing such certified copy: And provided,
further, That no patent shall be granted on an application for patent
for an invention which had been patented or described in a printed
publication in this or any foreign country more than one year before
the date of the actual filing of the application in this country, or
which had been in public use or sale in this country for more than one
year prior to such filing."
Sec. 3. Section sixteen of Republic Act Numbered
One hundred and sixty-five is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 16. Examination of the application. — When
an application for patent has been filed, the Director shall cause to
be determined whether it complies with the formal requirements and with
the requirements of Chapter II of this Act. If the application is
defective in any respect, the applicant shall be notified of the
specific defects and a time fixed, not less than four months, within
which such defects may be remedied.
"Whenever, on examination, any claim for a patent is rejected, the
Director shall cause the applicant to be notified thereof, giving him
briefly the reasons for such rejection, together with such information
and references as may be useful in judging of the propriety of renewing
his application or of altering his specification; and if, after
receiving such notice, the applicant persists in his claim for a
patent, with or without altering his specifications, the Director shall
order a reexamination of the case.
"No amendment for the first time presenting or asserting a claim which
is the same as, or for substantially the same subject matters as, a
claim of an issued patent may be made in any application unless such
amendment is filed within one year from the date on which said patent
was granted.
"If the applicant fails to request reconsideration of any adverse
action or decision of the Patent Office, or to remedy the defects
indicated to him by the Office within the time fixed by the Director,
or within such additional time, not exceeding four months, as may be
granted, the application shall be denied."
Sec. 4. Republic Act Numbered One hundred and
sixty-five is hereby amended by adding a new section immediately after
section twenty-seven thereof, to read as follows:
"Sec. 27-A. Whenever any patent is wholly or
partly, inoperative or invalid, by reason of a defective or
insufficient specification, or by reason of the patentee claiming as
his own invention more than he had a right to claim as new, if the
errors has arisen by inadvertence, accident, or mistake, and without
any fraudulent or deceptive intention, the Director shall, on the
surrender of such patent and the payment of a filing fee of one hundred
pesos, cause a patent for the same invention, and in accordance with
the corrected specification, to be reissued to the patentee or to his
assigns or legal representatives, for the unexpired part of the term of
the original patent. Such surrender shall take effect upon the issue of
the reissued patents so far as the claims of the original and reissued
patents are identical, such surrender shall not affect any action then
pending nor abate any cause of action then existing, and the reissued
patent to the extent that its claims are identical with the original
patent shall constitute a continuation thereof and have the effect
continuously from the date of the original patent. The Director may, in
his discretion, cause several patents to be issued for distinct and
separate parts of the thing patented, upon demand of the applicant, and
upon payment of fifty pesos for a reissue for each of such reissued
letters patent. The specifications and claims in every such case shall
be subject to revision and restriction in the same manner as original
applications are. Every patent so reissued, together with the corrected
specifications, shall have the same effect and operation in law, on the
trial of all actions for causes thereafter arising, as if the same had
been originally filed in such corrected form; but no new matter shall
be introduced into the specification, nor in the case of a machine
patent shall the model or drawings be amended, except each by the
other; but when there is neither model nor drawing, amendments may be
made upon proof satisfactory to the Director that such new matter or
amendment was a part of the original invention, and was omitted from
the specification by inadvertence, accident, or mistake, as
aforesaid."
Sec. 5. A new section is hereby added to Republic
Act Numbered One hundred and sixty-five, immediately before section
forty-two, to read as follows:
"Sec. 41-A. Any foreign corporation or juristic
person to which a patent for an invention or design has been granted or
assigned under this Act may bring an action for infringement hereunder,
whether or not it has been duly licensed to do business in the
Philippines under the Corporation Law at the time it brings the
complaint: Provided, That the country of which the said foreign
corporation or juristic person is a citizen, or in which it is
domiciled, by treaty, convention, or law, grants a similar privilege to
corporate or juristic citizens of the Philippines."
Sec. 6. Section s fifty-five, fifty-seven,
fifty-eight, fifty-nine and sixty of Republic Act Numbered One hundred
and sixty-five are hereby amended to read as follows:
"Sec. 55. Industrial designs. — Any new and
original creation relating to the features of shape, pattern,
configuration, ornamentation, or artistic appearance of an article or
industrial design by the author in the same manner and subject to the
same provisions and requirements as relate to patents for inventions in
so far as they are applicable, except as otherwise hereinafter provided.
"Sec. 57. Notice of grant of patent shall be
published. — Notice of the grant of a design patent shall be published
in the Official Gazette.
"Sec. 58. Term and extension thereof . — The term
of the design patent shall be five years from the date of the grant
thereof.
"Before the expiration of the five-year term, upon payment of the
retired fees, or within a further time thereafter not to exceed six
months upon payment of the surcharge, the owner of the design patent
may apply for an extension for an additional five years. The
application for extension must be accompanied by an affidavit showing
that the design is in commercial or industrial use in the Philippines
or satisfactorily explaining non-use. In a similar manner an extension
for a third five-year period may be obtained.
"Sec. 59. Marking. — The Marking required by
section forty-four, Chapter X, hereof, shall be "Philippine Design
Patent," or appropriate abbreviation, and the number of the patent.
"Sec. 60. Infringement. — Infringement of a design
patent shall consist in unauthorized copying of the patented design for
the purpose of trade or industry in the article or product and in the
making, using, or selling of the article or product copying the
patented design. Identity or substantial identity with the patented
design shall constitute evidence of copying."
Sec. 7. Section seventy-eight of Republic Act
Numbered One hundred and sixty-five is hereby amended to read as
follows:
"Sec. 78. Rules and regulations. — The Director,
subject to the approval of the Department Head, shall promulgate the
necessary rules and regulations, not inconsistent with law, for the
conduct of all business in the Patent Office."
"The Director may prescribe rules and regulations governing the
recognition of attorneys, agents, or other persons representing
applicants or other parties before his office in patent and trademark
cases, and may require such persons, attorneys or agents, before being
recognized as representatives of applicants or other persons, that they
shall show that they are of good moral character and in good repute,
are possessed of the necessary qualifications to enable them to render
to applicants or other persons valuable service, and are likewise
competent to advise and assist applicants or other persons in the
presentation or prosecution of their applications or other business
before the Office. And the Director of Patents may, after notice and
opportunity for a hearing, suspend or exclude, either generally or in
any particular case, from further practice before his office any
person, attorney, or agent shown to be incompetent or disreputable, or
guilty of gross misconduct, or gross discourtesy or disrespect towards
any Patent Office official or examiner while the latter is in the
discharge of his official duty, or who refuses to comply with the rules
and regulations of the Patent Office, or who shall, with intent to
defraud in any manner, deceive, mislead, or threaten any applicant or
prospective applicant or other person having immediate or prospective
business before the office, by word, circular, letter, or by
advertising. The reasons for any such suspension or exclusion shall be
duly recorded. And the action of the director may be reviewed upon the
petition of the person so refused recognition or so suspended or
excluded by the Supreme Court under such conditions and upon such
proceedings as the said Court may by its rules determine.
"It shall be unlawful for any person who has not been duly recognized
to practice before the Patent Office in accordance with the provisions
of this section and the rules of practice before the Patent Office to
hold himself out or knowingly permit himself to be held out as a patent
or trademark solicitor, patent or trademark agent, or patent or
trademark attorney, or otherwise in any manner hold himself out, either
directly or indirectly, as authorized to represent applicants for
patent or trademark in their business before the patent office, and it
shall be unlawful for any person who has, under the authority of this
section, been disbarred or excluded from practice before the Patent
Office, and has not been reinstated, to hold himself out in any manner
whatever as entitled to represent or assist persons in the transaction
of business before the Patent Office; and any offense against the
foregoing provision shall be a misdemeanor and be punished by a fine of
not less than one hundred pesos and not exceeding one thousand pesos."
Sec. 8. This Act shall take effect upon its
approval.
Approved: June 9, 1951
|