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Patents Registration Act 1973

LAWS OF THE REPUBLIC OF NAURU

PATENTS REGISTRATION ACT 1973
(No. 10 of 1973)

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

Section
1. Short title and commencement
2. Interpretation
3. Registrar of Patents
4. Register
5. Who may apply for registration
6. Method of Applying
7. Opposition
8. Registration and issue of certificate of registration
9. Privileges and rights conferred by registration
10. Co-ownership of patent rights
11. Power of Registrar to give directions to co-owners
12. Order for an account in action for infringement
13. Counterclaim for revocation in action for infringement
14. Proceedings for infringement by exclusive licensee
15. Remedy for groundless threats of infringement proceedings
16. Supreme Court may revoke registration
17. Patents connected with the phosphate industry
18. Special provisions as to vessels and aircraft
19. Registration of lapse, etc.
20. Substitution of amended specifications
21. Registration of assignments, etc.
22. Registrar may make corrections
23. Certificate and sealed copes to be evidence
24. Inspection. etc.
25. Loss or destruction of certificate of registration
26. Patents Gazette
27. Offences
28. Costs in proceedings before Registrar and security for costs
29. Regulations
30. Rules of court for appeals
31. Amendment of the Laws Repeal and Adopting Ordnance 1922-1967
32. Certain applied statutes to cease to apply in relation to patents
33. Repeal

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AN ACT

To provide for the registration of letters patent and
of applications for letters patent and for the privileges
and rights exercisable in Nauru upon such registration.

(Certified: 25th October, 1973)

Enacted by the Parliament of Nauru as follows:

SHORT TITLE AND COMMENCEMENT

1. This Act maybe cited as the Patents Registration Act 1973 and shall come into force on a date to be specified by the Minister by notice in the Gazette.

INTERPRETATION

2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-

"complete specification" means a specification which-

(a) describes fully the invention in respect of which application is made in the country of principal registration for grant of a patent and the method by which it is to be performed;

(b) discloses the best method of performing that invention which is known to the applicant and for which he claims to be entitled to protection; and

(c) ends with a claim or claims defining the scope of that invention;

"convention application" means an application made as such to the appropriate authority in the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth of Australia or the United States of America for a patent for an invention in respect of which protection has been applied for in any other one of those countries or in any other convention country;

"convention country" means, in respect of an application for a patent made as a convention application to the appropriate authority in the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth of Australia or the United States of America, a country which the Government of the country in which such application is made has declared to be a convention country;

"country of principal registration" means, in relation to any patent or any application for the grant of a patent, the country by the appropriate authority of which that patent has been granted or to the appropriate authority of which that application for the grant of a patent has been made, as the case may be;

"patent" means letters patent for an invention granted by the appropriate authority in the Commonwealth of Australia, the United Kingdom or the United States of America and includes a patent of addition;

"patentee" means the person or persons for the time being entered in the register of patents maintained by the appropriate authority in the country of principal registration as the grantee or proprietor of a patent;

"priority date" means the date on which the complete specification was filed with the appropriate authority in the country of principal registration or, in the case of a convention application, the date on which the complete specification was first filed with the appropriate authority in a convention country in support of an application to protect the invention;

"the Patents Gazette" means the Patents Gazette published by the Registrar under sector 26 of this Act;

"the appropriate authority" means the person authorised by the laws of a country to grant patents in that country;

"the Register" means the Register of Patents kept as required by section 4 of this Act;

"the Registrar" means the Registrar of Patents appointed under section 3 of this Act;

"the Registry" means the Registry of Patents established by section 3 of this Act.

REGISTRAR OF PATENTS

3. (1) There shall be a Registrar of Patents, appointed by the President, with an office to be called the Registry of Patents; the President may from time to time appoint such number of Assistant Registrars as may be required, who shall act under the control of the Registrar and have all the powers and duties of the Registrar.

(2) The Minister shall, by notice in the Gazette, prescribe a seal for use by the Registrar and the impressions of such seal shall be judicially noticed.

REGISTER

4. (1) The Registrar shall keep at the Registry a book to be known as the Register of Patents in which entries shall be made by or under the direction of the Registrar of the names and addresses of persons to whom certificates of registration are issued under this Act and of such other particulars as the Registrar deems necessary or is required by law to record.

(2) The Register shall be prima face evidence of all matters entered therein.

WHO MAY APPLY FOR REGISTRATION

5. (1) Any person who has made application to, and filed a complete specification in support thereof with, the appropriate authority in the Commonwealth of Australia, the United Kingdom or the United States of America for the grant of a patent may, provided that such application has not been withdrawn by such person or the grant of the patent refused by the appropriate authority of that country, apply to the Registrar for the registration of such application in Nauru.

(2) The patentee of a patent may, within three years from the date of the grant of the patent in the country of principal registration, apply to the Registrar to have such patent registered in Nauru:

Provided that, during the twelve months next following the commencement of this Act, application may be made for the registration of a patent notwithstanding that more than three years may have elapsed since the grant of such patent in the country of principal registration.

METHOD OF APPLYING

6. (1) An application for registration of a patent, or of an application for a patent, under this Act shall be made to the Registrar in the prescribed manner and shall be accompanied by the prescribed fees, two certified copies of the specification or specifications, including drawings, if any, lodged in the country of principal registration and-

(a) in the case of an application made pursuant to subsection (1) of section 5 of this Act. a certified copy of the application; or

(b) in the case of an application made pursuant to subsection (2) of section 5 of this Act, a certificate of the grant.

(2) In this section a "certified copy" and "certificate" respectively mean a copy certified and a certificate issued by the appropriate authority in the country of principal registration.

OPPOSITION

7. (1) Upon application for registration of a patent or of an application for a patent being received together with the fees and the documents mentioned in section 6 the Registrar shall publish in the Patents Gazette such details of the application as may be prescribed and any person may at any time within three months from the date of such advertisement give notice to the Registrar of opposition to the registration. Such notice shall be in the prescribed form.

(2) The registration of a patent may be opposed on one or both of the following grounds -

(a) publication or use of the invention in Nauru before the priority date;

(b) prior registration of a patent for the invention or of an application for a patent for the invention under this Act.

(3) The registration of an application for a patent may be opposed on any one or more of the following grounds-

(a) publication or use of the invention in Nauru before the priority date;

(b) prior registration of a patent for the invention or of an application for a patent for the invention under this Act;

(c) prior grant of a patent for the invention by the appropriate authority in the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth of Australia or the United States of America;

(d) prior filing of a complete specification in support of an application for a patent for the invention with the appropriate authority in the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth of Australia or the United States of America:

Provided that the registration shall not be opposed on ground (c) or ground (d) unless, before notice of opposition is given, application has been made under this Act for the registration of the patent or the application for a patent, as the case may be, which is the subject-matter of that ground:

And provided further that, where registration is refused on either of those grounds and on no other ground, such refusal shall be conditional upon the patent or the application for a patent which is the subject-matter of that ground being registered under this Act and, where any such application for a patent is so registered, upon any patent granted in respect thereof also being so registered: and, if any such condition is not complied with, the Registrar shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (1) of section 8, register the application.

(4) Where notice of opposition is given within the prescribed time the Registrar shall transmit a copy of the nonce to the applicant and, after hearing both parties if they wish to be heard and considering any submissions which they may make in writing, shall decide whether or not to register the application or the patent, as the case may be.

REGISTRATION AND ISSUE OF CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRATION

8. (1) If there is no opposition and the Registrar is satisfied from the documents lodged with the application that it is in order and, in the case of opposition, if the Registrar considers that there are no good grounds for such opposition, he shall, if the application is accompanied by the prescribed fees and the required documents -

(a) in the case of an application made pursuant to subsection (1 ) of section 5, register the application and issue to the applicant a certificate of registration of the application; and

(b) in the case of an application made pursuant to subsection (2) of section 5, register the patent and issue to the applicant a certificate of registration of the patent:

and every such certificate shall be in the prescribed form and under his hand and seal.

(2) Upon registration of a patent, the registration in respect of the application for that patent shall lapse.

(3) The holder of a certificate of registration of an application may lodge with the Registrar any amended or additional documents, specifications or drawings lodged in the country of principal registration accompanied by a certificate of the grant and the prescribed fees: if he does so, the provisions of section 7 shall apply as though there were a new application for registration. If there is no opposition or, in the case of opposition, if the Registrar considers that there are no good grounds for not doing so, he shall amend the original registration and issue a certificate of registration in the prescribed form under his hand and seal in substitution for the certificate previously issued, which shall be surrendered.

(4) The holder of a certificate of registration of a patent shall pay on or before the anniversary in each year of the date on which the patent is registered such annual fee as may be prescribed in respect thereof and, if he fails to pay any such fee by the due date, the Registrar shall forthwith cancel the registration and publish in the Patents Gazette a notice of the cancellation: and the certificate of registration shall thereupon be deemed to have been cancelled and shall cease to be valid thereafter.

(5) Where a certificate of registration has been cancelled under the last preceding subsection, the Registrar may, upon the application of the holder of the certificate made within six months of the cancellation and upon payment of the annual fee and such penalty as may be prescribed, if he is satisfied that no person's proper interests will be prejudiced thereby, renew the registration and publish a notice to that effect in the Patents Gazette: and the certificate of registration shall be valid again with effect from the date of such renewal:

Provided that the Registrar shall, before renewing any registration under this section, give notice in the Patents Gazette that application for such renewal has been made and he shall not renew the registration until after the expiration of a period of twenty-one days from the date of the publication of that notice:

And provided further that, for the purposes of subsection (4), the date in each year on which the annual fee is payable, shall be the date on which the patent was originally registered under subsection (1).

(6) A certificate of registration of an application issued under paragraph (a) of subsection (1) shall be valid until -

(a) where the application is rejected, one month after the date of its final rejection;

(b) where a patent is granted on the application, six months after such grant.

In this subsection an application is deemed not to have been finally rejected if an appeal against its rejection permitted by the laws of the country concerned has been commenced and has not been determined.

(7) Subject to subsections (4) and (5), a certificate of registration of a patent issued under paragraph (b) of subsection (1) shall be valid from the date of its issue, or, where a certificate of registration of an application for the patent has been issued under paragraph (a) of subsection (1), from the date of issue of that certificate, until the date which is the sixteenth anniversary of the date from which the term of the patent commenced in the country of principal registration or, if such patent lapses or is revoked in that country, to the date of such lapse or revocation:

Provided that, where a patent has lapsed in the country of principal registration but has subsequently been restored in that country, it shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed not to have suffered that lapse if notice of the restoration is given to the Registrar under section 19, save that no action shall lie against any person for making, using or exercising the invention between the date of the lapse and the date on which notice of the restoration is given to the Registrar.

(8) Where an application for the registration of an application or of a patent, for the issue of a new certificate under subsection (3) or for the renewal of registration under subsection (5) is refused, the applicant may appeal within 28 days to the Supreme Court. The decision of the Supreme Court shall be final and no further appeal shall lie to any other court or tribunal.

PRIVILEGES AND RIGHTS CONFERRED BY REGISTRATION

9. (1) Where a certificate of registration of an application for a patent has been issued under section 8 of this Act, the person to whom it is issued, his executors, administrators and assigns shall, subject to the other provisions of this Act, have the sole right to obtain a certificate of registration of any patent relating to the invention concerned which is issued in the country of principal registration as the result of that application.

(2) Where a certificate of registration of a patent has been issued under section 8 of this Act, the person to whom it is issued, his executors, administrators, assigns and licensees, themselves or by their deputies, servants and agents, shall have the sole licence, power, privilege and authority to make, use, exercise and sell in Nauru the invention in respect of which the patent was granted in the country of principal registration. Such licence, power, privilege and authority shall be held, exercised and enjoyed for such time as the certificate of registration is valid.

CO-OWNERSHIP OF PATENT RIGHTS

10. (1) Where a certificate of registration of a patent is granted to two or more persons, each of those persons shall, unless an agreement to the contrary is in force, be entitled to an equal undivided share in the privileges and rights conferred by the registration.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this and the next following section, where two or more persons are registered as grantees of a certificate of registration of a patent, then unless an agreement to the contrary is in force, each of those persons shall be entitled, by himself or his agents, to make use, exercise and vend the invention to which the certificate relates for his own benefit without accounting to the other or others.

(3) Subject to the provisions of the next following section and to any agreement for the time being in force, a licence under a certificate of registration of a patent shall not be granted, and a share in the privileges and rights conferred by the registration of a patent shall not be assigned, except with the consent of all persons, other than the licensor or assignor, who are registered as grantees of the certificate of registration.

(4) Where an article is sold by one of two or more persons registered as grantees of a certificate of registration of a patent, the purchaser and any person claiming through him shall be entitled to deal with it in the same manner as if the article had been sold by a sole grantee of such certificate.

(5) Subject to the provisions of this section, the rules of law applicable to the ownership and devolution of personal property generally shall apply in relation to patents as they apply in relation to other choses in action; and nothing in subsection (1 ) or subsection (2) of this section shall affect the mutual rights or obligations of trustees or of the personal representatives of a deceased person, or their rights or obligations as such.

POWER OF REGISTRAR TO GIVE DIRECTIONS TO CO-OWNERS

11. (1) Where two or more persons are registered as grantees of a certificate of registration of a patent, the Registrar may, upon application made to him in the prescribed manner by any of those persons, give such directions in accordance with the application as to the sale or lease of the privileges and rights conferred by the registration or any of them, the grant of licences under the certificate of registration, or the exercise of any right under the last preceding section in relation thereto, as he thinks fit.

(2) If any person registered as grantee of the certificate of registration of the patent fails to execute any instrument or to do any other thing required for the carrying out of any direction given under this section within 28 days after being requested in writing so to do by any of the other persons so registered, the Registrar may, upon application made to him in the prescribed manner by any such other person, give directions empowering any person to execute that instrument or to do that thing in the name and on behalf of the person in default.

(3) Before giving directions in pursuance of an application under this section, the Registrar shall give an opportunity to be heard-

(a) in the case of an application under subsection (1) of this section, to the other person or persons registered as grantee of the certificate of registration of the patent;

(b) in the case of an application under subsection (2) of this section, to the person in default.

(4) An appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court within 28 days from any decision or direction of the Registrar under this section. The decision of the Supreme Court shall be final and no further appeal shall lie to any other court or tribunal.

(5) No directions shall be given under this section so as to affect the mutual rights or obligations of trustees or of the personal representatives of a deceased person, or their rights or obligations as such.

ORDER FOR AN ACCOUNT IN ACTION FOR INFRINGEMENT

12. In an action for infringement of privileges or rights conferred by a certificate of registration of a patent the plaintiff shall be entitled, at his option, to an account of profits in lieu of damages.

COUNTERCLAIM FOR REVOCATION IN ACTION FOR INFRINGEMENT

13. A defendant in an action for infringement of a patent may, without presenting a petition, apply in accordance with rules of court by way of counterclaim in the action for revocation of the patent.

PROCEEDINGS FOR INFRINGEMENT BY EXCLUSIVE LICENSEE

14. (1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the holder of an exclusive licence under a certificate of registration of a patent shall have the like right as the grantee thereof to take proceedings in respect of any infringement of the privileges or rights conferred thereby committed after the date of the licence and, in awarding damages or granting any other relief in any such proceedings, the Court shall take into consideration any loss suffered or likely to be suffered by the exclusive licensee as such or, as the case maybe, the profits earned by means of the infringement so far as it constitutes an infringement of the rights of the exclusive licensee as such.

(2) In any proceedings taken by the holder of an exclusive licence by virtue of this section, the grantee of the certificate of registration of the patent shall, unless he is joined as plaintiff in the proceedings, be added as defendant:

Provided that a grantee so added as defendant shall not be liable for any costs unless he enters an appearance and takes part in the proceedings.

REMEDY FOR GROUNDLESS THREATS OF INFRINGEMENT PROCEEDINGS

15. (1) Where any person, whether entitled to or interested in the registration of a patent or of an application for a patent or not, by circulars, advertisements or otherwise threatens any other person with proceedings for infringement of the privileges or rights conferred by the registration of a patent, any person aggrieved thereby may bring an action against him for any such relief as is mentioned in the next following subsection.

(2) Unless in any action brought by virtue of this section the defendant proves that the acts in respect of which proceedings were threatened constitute or, if done, would constitute an infringement of the privileges or rights conferred by the registration of a patent, the plaintiff shall be entitled to the following relief, that is to say-

(a) a declaration to the effect that the threats are unjustifiable;

(b) an injunction against the continuance of the threats; and

(c) such damages, if any, as he has sustained thereby.

(3) For the avoidance of doubt it is hereby declared that a mere notification of the existence of a certificate of registration of a patent or of an application for a patent does not constitute a threat of proceedings within the meaning of this section.

SUPREME COURT MAY REVOKE REGISTRATION

16. (1) Where an application for a patent has been registered under section 8 of this Act and such application has been refused in the country of principal registration, the Supreme Court shall, upon application by any interested person or the Registrar revoke the registration and the registration to which it related shall be deemed to have ceased to have force and effect from the date of such refusal.

(2) The Supreme Court shall have power, upon the application of any person who alleges that his interests have been prejudicially affected by the registration of a patent or of an application for a patent, to declare on any of the grounds upon which a United Kingdom patent might be revoked under the law in force in the United Kingdom at the commencement of this Act that the exclusive licence, power, privilege and authority conferred by such registration have not been acquired and to revoke the registration:

Provided that no application may be made under this subsection on any ground on which the registration might have been opposed under section 7 of this Act;

And provided further that, where the Court considers that the applicant has been dilatory in taking proper steps to protect his interests and that the revocation of the registration is likely to cause an unreasonable loss to the person to whom the certificate of registration has been issued, it may-

(a) refuse to exercise its powers under this subsection; or

(b) make the exercise of its powers conditional upon the payment of compensation for such loss by the applicant to the person to whom the certificate of registration has been issued.

(3) Where any person claims to have such an interest in any patent registered under section 8 of this Act that, if it had not already been registered, he would have been entitled to apply for its registration, the Supreme Court may, upon his application, annul the certificate of registration issued upon the registration and direct the Registrar to issue a new certificate of registration jointly to the applicant and the person to whom the original certificate was issued, or his executors, administrators or assigns. A certificate issued by the Registrar pursuant to a direction of the Supreme Court under this subsection shall bear the date of the registration of the patent or the application to which it relates and shall, for all purposes, be deemed to have been issued on that date.

PATENTS CONNECTED WITH THE PHOSPHATE INDUSTRY

17. The licence, powers, privileges and authority referred to in section 9 of this Act shall, where a patent registered under section 8 of this Act was granted for an invention relating to the mining, crushing, treatment or conveyance of phosphate rock or to any operation undertaken, or which may be undertaken, as part of the phosphate industry in Nauru, be subject to the Republic, the Nauru Phosphate Corporation and any other statutory corporation or any instrumentality of the Republic specified for the purpose of this section by the Minister by notice in the Gazette having the power, privilege and authority to make, use and exercise the invention without the agreement of, or liability to make any payment therefore to, the person in whose name the patent is registered or any other person.

SPECIAL PROVISIONS AS TO VESSELS AND AIRCRAFT

18.(1 ) Where a vessel or aircraft registered in a country other than Nauru comes into Nauru, including the territorial waters thereof, temporarily or accidentally only, the privileges and rights conferred by the registration of a patent for an invention shall not be deemed to be infringed by the use of the invention -

(a) in the body of the vessel or in the machinery, tackle, apparatus or other accessories thereof, so far as the invention is used on board the vessel and for its actual needs only; or

(b) in the construction or working of the aircraft or of the accessories thereof,

as the case may be.

(2) This section shall not affect the provisions of section 30 of the Air Navigation Act 1971, which exempts certain aircraft from seizure on patent claims.

REGISTRATION OF LAPSE, ETC.

19. Every lapse, revocation and restoration after lapse in the country of principal registration of any patent registered under this Act may be notified in the prescribed manner by any interested person to the Registrar who shall, upon sufficient evidence thereof being produced to him and on the payment of the prescribed fee, enter the same in the Register and issue a certificate in the prescribed form under his hand and seal with respect to such entry.

SUBSTITUTION OF AMENDED SPECIFICATIONS

20. Where the specification or drawings of a patent in respect of which a certificate of registration has been issued under section 8 have been amended by way_. of disclaimer, correction or explanation according to the law of the country of principal registration, a request, which shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee, two copies of the specification or drawings, if any, as amended duly certified and such other information as maybe prescribed, maybe made to the Registrar to substitute copies of the specification or drawings as amended for the specification or drawings originally lodged and the Registrar shall, if he is satisfied that the amendment has been made to the patent in the country of principal registration, substitute the copes of the specification or drawings, if any, as amended for the specification or drawing originally lodged.

REGISTRATION OF ASSIGNMENTS, ETC.

21. Where a person becomes entitled by assignment, transmission or other operation of law to any licence, power, privilege or authority held by virtue of section 8 of this Act or to any interest therein, he may make application in the prescribed manner to the Registrar for such fact to be recorded in the Register. The Registrar shall upon his being satisfied of such fact and on payment of the prescribed fee enter such fact in the Register and endorse it on the certificate of registration, for which purpose he shall have power to require any person in whose possession it may be to produce it to him.

REGISTRAR MAY MAKE CORRECTIONS

22. The Registrar may on application by any interested person made in the prescribed manner:

(a) correct any clerical error in any application or in any specification or drawing, or any other error not affecting the substance of the application, specification or drawing;

(b) correct any clerical error in any matter entered in the Register, or any other error not affecting the substance of the matter;

(c) enter any change in the name, style or address of the person in whose name the patent is registered; and

(d) rectify the Register in respect of any matter wherein a court of competent jurisdiction in the country of principal registration has made an order, if he is satisfied that the order has been duly made.

CERTIFICATE AND SEALED COPIES TO BE EVIDENCE

23. (1) A certificate purporting to be under the hand and seal of the Registrar as to any entry, matter or thing which he is authorised by law to make or do shall, unless the contrary be proved, be evidence of the entry having been made, and of the contents thereof, and of the matter or thing having been done or left undone.

(2) Printed or written copes or extracts purporting to be sealed by the appropriate authority in the country of principal registration of or from patents, specifications and other documents in the patents registry or office of that country and of or from registers and other books kept there shall be admissible in all courts and in all proceedings without further proof or production of the originals.

INSPECTION, ETC.

24. The Register shall, save as maybe provided to the contrary by any written law, be open to the inspection of the public between 10.00 a.m. and 12 noon on all days other than Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays and certified copies signed and sealed by the Registrar of any entry in such Register shall be given to any person upon application being received on the prescribed form accompanied by the prescribed fee.

LOSS OR DESTRUCTION OF CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRATION

25. Where the Registrar is satisfied that a certificate of registration of a patent or of an application for a patent has been lost or destroyed or cannot be produced, he may at any time issue a duplicate thereof, marked as such, under his hand and seal.

PATENTS GAZETTE

26. (1) The Registrar shall at such times as may be prescribed, publish a bulletin to be known as the Patents Gazette.

(2) There shall be published in the Patents Gazette such matters as maybe required by this Actor as maybe prescribed and such other matters relating to applications for and grants of certificates of registration under sections 7 and 8 of this Act as the Registrar thinks fit to publish therein.

(3) The Patents Gazette shall be available to members of the public, whether resident in Nauru or not, upon payment of the prescribed fee.

OFFENCES

27. (1) Any person who makes or causes to be made a false entry in the Register or a writing falsely purporting to be a copy of an entry in the Register or produces in evidence any such writing knowing such entry to be false or such writing not to be an accurate copy of an entry in the Register is guilty of an offence and is liable to imprisonment for a period of two years and a fine of two thousand dollars.

(2) Any person who falsely represents that any article sold, or offered or displayed for sale, by him is an article in relation to which an invention is the subject of a patent registered under this Act is guilty of an offence and is liable to a fine of one hundred dollars.

For the purposes of this subsection any person who sells, or offers or displays for sale, an article having stamped, engraved or impressed thereon or in any way applied thereto the words "patent", "patented" or any other word expressing or implying that the article is patented shall be deemed to represent that article to be an article in relation to which an invention is the subject of a patent registered under this Act:

Provided always that it shall be sufficient defence to show to the satisfaction of the Court that the article was manufactured outside and imported into Nauru in the condition in which it was sold in Nauru and is in fact patented under the provisions of the law in force in the place where it was manufactured.

COSTS IN PROCEEDINGS BEFORE REGISTRAR AND SECURITY FOR COSTS

28. (1) The Registrar may, in any proceedings before him under this Act, by order award to any party such costs as he may consider reasonable, and direct how and by what parties they are to be paid; and any such order shall be enforceable as though it were an order of the District Court.

(2) If any party by whom notice of any opposition is given under this Act to the grant of a licence under a patent or by whom application is made to the Registrar under section 11 of this Act for directions or by whom notice of appeal is given from any decision of the Registrar under this Act neither resides nor carries on business in Nauru, the Registrar or, in the case of an appeal, a judge may require him to give security for the costs of the proceedings before the Registrar or of the appeal, as the case may be, and in default of such security being given may treat the opposition, application or appeal as abandoned.

REGULATIONS

29. The Minister may from time to time make regulations for all or any of the following purposes, that is to say-

(a) prescribing the forms to be used under this Act;

(b) providing for and regulating the search and inspection of the Register;

(c) prescribing the matters to be published in the Patents Gazette and prescribing and regulating the publication of any documents or applications filed or presented or of any of the several matters done or required to be done in pursuance of this Act;

(d) prescribing the fees and fixing the charges to be made for any act, matter or thing to be done or observed under this Act, including penalty fees;

(e) otherwise regulating the practice of the Registry;

(f) generally for the better carrying into effect of the provisions of this Act.

RULES OF COURT FOR APPEALS

30. Where provision is made by this Act for appeals to lie to the Supreme Court from decisions of the Registrar, the Chief Justice may prescribe rules of court for the procedure to be followed therein and for all other matters pertaining thereto and by such rules of court may provide for such appeals to be dealt with by a judge in Chambers and for the appellants and the parties to such appeals to present their respective cases in writing.

AMENDMENT OF THE LAWS REPEAL AND ADOPTING ORDINANCE 1922-1967

31. The First Schedule of the Laws Repeal and Adopting Ordnance 1922-1967 is amended by deleting therefrom-

the Patents Act 1903-1934

CERTAIN APPLIED STATUTES TO CEASE TO APPLY IN RELATION TO PATENTS

32. The provisions of-

(a) the Patents, Trade Marks and Designs Act 1910;

(b) the Patents, Trade Marks and Designs Act 1914-1915; and

(c) the Patents, Trade Marks and Designs Act 1932,

being Acts of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia applied to Nauru by section 10 of the Laws Repeal and Adopting Ordnance 1922-1967, shall, insofar as they relate to patents, cease to be in force or have effect in Nauru upon the commencement of this Act.

REPEAL

33. The Registration of Australian Patents Ordnance 1925-1967 is hereby repealed.

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