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stitution for, any restrictions, conditions, or provisoes which would otherwise be inserted therein under the Of course, these powers will only be exercised on very special occasions.

Act.

It is imperative that the patent should be issued during the continuance of the provisional protection, or the protection by reason of a deposit of a complete specification. The only exceptions allowed arefirstly, where the application to seal was made in due time, and the sealing was delayed by reason of the delivery of notice of objection, or an application to the Lord Chancellor in relation to the sealing of the patent (15 & 16 Vict. c. 83, s. 20); secondly, where the delay in sealing has arisen from accident, and not from the wilful neglect or default of the applicant (16 & 17 Vict. c. 115, s. 6). The Chancellor, in either case, may extend the time for sealing, but not for longer than a month. The practice upon applications to extend the time is governed by the Chancellor's rule of the 17th July, 1854-for which see the Appendix.

Under very special circumstances, however, the Lord Chancellor may be induced to seal a patent some months after the expiration of the provisional protection. See the case of Re Mackintosh's Patent, cited in the chapter on Oppositions.

In the case of the applicant dying during the continuance of protection, whether under a provisional or complete specification, the patent may be issued to the executors or administrators during the continuance of such provisional or other protection, or at any time within three months after the death of the applicant (15 & 16 Vict. c. 83, s. 21). In this case a petition is presented to the Lord Chancellor, setting forth the facts, and requesting his order that the letters patent may issue to the executors or administrators. The petition must be supported by an affidavit verifying its

allegations, and the probate or letters of administration must be produced and registered in the patent office.

Letters patent are usually dated as of the day of the application for the same; but the Lord Chancellor, or the law officer, has power to cause them to bear date as of the day of the sealing, or of any other day between the day of the application or provisional registration, and the day of the sealing (15 & 16 Vict. c. 83, s. 23).

By the 24th section of the same Act any letters patent bearing date as of any date prior to the day of the actual sealing thereof shall be of the same force as if they had been sealed on the day of their date. Patents therefore have priority according to their dates, not according to the time of sealing. Thus a patent was applied for by Saxby on the 20th of July, 1867, and when issued it was dated on that day. On the 23rd of July, Easterbrook applied for a patent in respect, it was alleged, of the same invention, and the patent when granted bore that date. It appeared that Easterbrook's patent was sealed before Saxby's, though dated three days later, and the former contended that his patent took priority, but the Court of Exchequer held that by the language of the Act priority was determined by the date, not by the time of sealing of a patent. (Saxby v. Hennett, L. R. 8 Exch. 210.)

But now the practice is that where two parties apply for patents for similar inventions about the same time, and the second applicant first has the seal affixed, the patent of the first applicant will either be refused or it will be dated as of the date of his application for the seal, and therefore later than the patent of the second applicant. (Ex parte Bailey, L. R. 8 Ch. 60; Ex parte Scott and Young, L. R. 6 Ch. 274; Ex parte Harrison, L. R. 9 Ch. 632; Bates & Redgate's

Case, L. R. 4 Ch. 577.) See further on this subject in the chapter on Oppositions.

The term for which patents may be granted is limited by the statute of James to fourteen years, and it is usual to make the grant for the whole of this term. The time runs from the day of the date of the patent, including that day; for instance, a patent for fourteen years, dated 26th February, 1825, was held to expire at twelve o'clock on the night of the 25th February, 1839. (Russell v. Ledsam, 14 M. & W. 574.)

With regard to letters patent obtained in the United Kingdom for foreign inventions patented abroad, the 25th section of the Act of 1852 declares that they shall expire (whatever may be the term limited in such letters patent) at the expiration of the term during which the patent obtained abroad shall continue in force, or in case of several foreign patents at the expiration of the first. This section will apply to a British patent only so far as the inventions in that and the foreign patent are identical, and if the British patent covers more ground than the foreign patent, then the former will remain valid pro tanto. "The effect of the section" (said Wood, V.C., in Daw v. Eley, L. R. 3 Eq. 496) "is to strike out of the English patent that which up to a certain time the foreign patent has covered, but ceases any longer to cover."

This section, however, will not render a British patent void on the determination of the foreign patent when the latter is obtained between the date of the application for the British patent and the date of its sealing; for the 24th section of the same Act provides that any letters patent "sealed and bearing date as of any day prior to the day of the actual sealing thereof, shall be of the same force and validity as if they had been sealed on the day as of which the same are ex

That is to say,

pressed to be sealed and bear date." letters patent are to be taken as if sealed on the date which they bear, and it is usual to date them on the day of the application, not on the day of the sealing. Thus, where a patent for a foreign invention was applied for in this country on the 17th of September, and the patent was sealed on the 17th of December, but dated the 17th of September, the determination of a foreign patent for the same invention obtained on the 13th of December was held both by the Master of the Rolls, and, on appeal, by the Lords Justices, not to affect the validity of the British patent. (Holste v. Robinson, L. R. 4 Ch. D. 9.)

In case clerical errors should have been made in letters patent, the Master of the Rolls has power to correct them. (Re Nickels' Patent, 4 Bea. 563); but the application must be made within a reasonable time. (Re Blamond's Patent, 3 L. T. N. s. 800.)

The Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852, introduced new regulations as to the payment of fees and stampduties in respect of letters patent; and instead of retaining the old plan of making the whole expenses payable at the time of taking out the patent, the burden of them is now postponed to the eve of the expiration of the third and the seventh years after the date of the patent. This is a convenient arrangement for patentees, who, in place of paying a heavy sum for what may turn out an unremunerating invention, have now an opportunity of practically testing its commercial value before the heaviest part of the expense is incurred. In order to insure payment of the postponed sums, the statute 16 Vict. c. 5, s. 2, enacts that all letters patent shall be made subject to the condition that the same shall be void at the expiration of three years and seven years, respectively, from the date thereof, unless there be paid, before the expiration of

the said periods, the stamp-duties mentioned in the schedule of the Act; and we have seen that such a clause is accordingly inserted in letters patent.

It is a sufficient compliance with the statute if the duty is paid on the third anniversary of the date. Thus, where letters patent were dated on the 26th February, 1855, and the three years' stamp-duty was paid on the 26th February, 1858, it was held to have been paid in due time (Williams v. Nash, 28 Beav. 93).

Where through inadvertence the stamp-duty has not been paid, and the patent has consequently become void, a special Act of Parliament can usually be obtained to make the patent valid.

It was formerly the practice to issue separate letters patent for the three kingdoms, upon three separate applications of the inventor; but now, by the Act of 1852 (s. 18), it is provided that letters patent shall extend to the whole of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man; and, in case the Queen's warrant shall so direct, such letters patent shall be made applicable to our colonies, or such of them as shall be mentioned in the warrant. The letters patent thus granted are declared to be as valid and effectual throughout all the territories just mentioned, as the letters patent formerly granted were separately valid in the three kingdoms respectively. The Commissioners of Patents have, for some time past, refused to extend the grants to the colonies; and most of our colonies have acquired patent laws of their own.

In case of the destruction or loss of letters patent, others of the like tenor and effect, and sealed and dated the same day, may be issued under the authority of the warrant in pursuance of which the original letters patent were issued (15 & 16 Vict. c. 83, s. 22). The practice is to present a petition to the Lord

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