Intellectual Property Laws Rationalisation Act, 1996 (Act No. 107 of 1996)Part 3 : Patents5. Application of South African Patents Act |
| (1) | Subject to the provisions of this section, the South African Act shall apply to all patents registered or deemed to be registered under the Bophuthatswana Act, the Transkei Act and the Venda Act. |
| (2) | Subject to subsection (5), the validity of a patent entered on the Register of Patents and the duration of such a patent shall be determined in accordance with the laws applying to the application for registration of that patent as at the date of that application. |
| (3) | Subject to subsection (5), the repeal of the laws by section 16 does not affect any applications or proceedings commenced under the Bophuthatswana Act, the Transkei Act or the Venda Act and any such applications or proceedings shall be continued with and concluded in accordance with the provisions of the respective laws as if such laws had not been repealed, provided that— |
| (a) | the Registrar of Patents shall perform the functions and duties of the registrars appointed under those Acts; and |
| (b) | any notice and other communication required to be inserted or published in a patent journal or other official publications may be inserted or published in the South African Patent Journal. |
| (4) | A patent registered under the South African Act shall not apply to the geographical areas of Bophuthatswana, Transkei or Venda for so long as and to the extent that a valid registered patent right for the same invention continues to subsist in any such geographical area, but shall extend to each such geographical area if and when such valid right no longer subsists. |
| (5) |
| (a) | A proprietor of a patent registered in Bophuthatswana, Transkei or Venda, respectively, may, within one year after the coming into force of this Act, notify the Registrar of Patents in writing that he or she wishes his or her patent right to extend to the whole of the national territory of the Republic, subject to paragraph (b). |
| (b) | Once such a notification has been made such patent right shall continue to apply only to the geographical areas of Bophuthatswana, Transkei or Venda, as the case may be, for as long as and to the extent that a valid registered patent for the same invention subsists in terms of the South African Act, but, subject to paragraph (a), such patent right shall extend to the whole of the national territory if and when such right in terms of the South African Act does not exist. |
| (6) | Any lawful use by any person of an invention commenced prior to 27 April 1994 in the geographical area of Bophuthatswana, Transkei or Venda shall not become unlawful by virtue of this Act, provided that use is not extended outside the geographical area concerned. |